I Don't Want The World To End
by NickyStokes
Summary: A little insight into what might happen when our two Geeks decide...where do we go from here? Ratings may go up in future chapters....chapters 21 and 22 may raise the rating., if you aren't into it...skip those chapters...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: They don't belong to me for if they did, Sara/Jorja would be on forever, CSI would never end...I'd pay them all whatever they wanted...and...I'm just borrowing.

Something that popped into my head this afternoon at work...had to get it out, No Beta so any and all mistakes are my own...unless someone else wants to take the blame!

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"I don't want the world to end" she stated matter of fact as they stood next to each other. Both were clad from head to toe in beekeeper wear as Grissom worked over the hive he'd removed from the murder scene.

"No one does my Dear" he smiled contemplatively while working outside. He realized that the thought of ever being without her for any length of time was harder to comprehend after Sara's kidnapping. "Especially when you've taken so long to find the one true love of your life" he winked at her and started to dismantle the beehive. "Maybe we should just get married!"

Sara almost dropped the smoke can she'd been using to slow the bees that were both leaving and returning to the hive. She smiled the mega-watt smile that made his heart thud that much faster. "Um...did you just say what I think you did?" she was standing beside him, mouth somewhere between that smile and being agape and for an instant, she reminded him of his Billy Bass.

"Well, it makes sense...we've been together two years...well" he turned, face partially hidden behind the pit helmet and netting. "9 if you see it my way..." he chuckled and saw her blush. "But we've shared a home for two years Sara...I know it's not always been easy but...I think what we have.." he was stumbling over his words. "I know you're anti-marriage..." she shook her head...

"I'm not anti-marriage Gil...I just, I'm not...it's just that woman get married and suddenly they become property" she put the can down next to the hive and studied his face.

"Well, how about if we get married and instead of you considering yourself my property..." he teased lightly "I get a tattoo that says 'property of Sara Grissom" she swallowed then shook her head..

"It would have to be Sara Sidle-Grissom" she corrected him once again..."I'm not wearing one of those floor length hoop things that look like you should have a staff in one hand and sheep following close behind!" she winked at him. Somehow, she never imagined Grissom ever asking her to marry him...or proposing marriage because in all honesty, he hadn't really asked. Like everything else, he'd just put it out there...

He reassembled the beehive after carefully extracting any deceased animals and collecting them in a jar. "I don't understand it...something is causing them to drop like..." Sara's laugh cut the air and he realized he'd almost said 'like flies' ...which wouldn't have been appropriate because while they were flying insects., they were bees. "Okay smart ass...just wait., I'm picking your dress..." he leaned gently over and poked a finger in her direction..."A big frilly one, complete with a bonnet and a big bow on your..." he motioned with his eyes toward her behind and she turned to follow his gaze.

"You keep picturing a big bow on my ass Mister, and I guarantee, the only way you'll ever see it again..." he pulled her toward him and tried to kiss her through their mutual netting but only managed to whack himself in the nose with the brim of her helmet. "Serves you right" she snickered as he pulled away and rubbed at the spot..."Want me to kiss it and make it better?" she smiled warmly and touched his shoulder.

"I want you to kiss that and...well, I have this ache in my neck" he took her hands and started leading her away from the hives and toward the house "and I have a spot on my elbow..." when they were far enough from the hives to warrant removing their protective headgear, he quickly moved in and captured her lips.

"Hey Bugman, I'm supposed to be kissing you better..." she pouted against his lips and pulled back. "So tell me again..." she took his hand, opened the back door and they slipped inside.

"Well you see, my nose is still a little tender..." he pointed, she kissed it softly. "And I think my eyes are a little sensitive from the sun" she followed his finger and kissed each of his eyelids, "and my neck is a little stiff..." she tilted his jaw and planted a wet kiss just under his chin. "and I think I'm getting a headache..." his voice was low and only slightly whining...She kissed each and ever part of his face finishing with a very heated kiss that enveloped his mouth under hers.

"I think if there's anywhere else that's hurting Mr. Grissom, we'd better take this to the bedroom" she stood waiting for him to make the next move.

"Well, my heart is hurting...but you could fix that right here..." he moaned, his hand just over the left side of his chest.

"And why would your heart be hurting?" she suddenly became very serious wondering if he was joking or if there were really something wrong She couldn't tell from his face.

"Because Miss Sidle, you never answered me outside..." he picked her up over his shoulder and carried her off to the bedroom "and for that., you simply must be punished..." he tossed her down on the bed and stood over her with his hands on his hips...trying to catch his breath...

She couldn't believe he did that. She'd known for the last year, he'd been working out at the local gym with Brass but until now, didn't realize just how physically strong he was...it surprised and amazed her and for a moment she was speechless.

"Sara...are you okay?" he was instantly puzzled by the stillness... "I didn't hurt you did I?" he immediately came over to assess that she wasn't injured...he'd been extra careful not to put pressure on her arm that was still in a smaller cast and in a sling. "I'm sorry Honey, I didn't think" he leaned overand gently touched her arm.."I do that a lot I guess" the sadness wafted off of him suddenly. Sara smiled up at him and latched onto his shirt collar.

"Gil...I'm absolutely fine, I just couldn't believe it when you picked me up so easily..." she pulled him toward her..."But I don't want you to ever berate yourself for thinking or anything else again..." she kissed him softly "Don't you understand yet...I love you...I have forever" her mouth was pressed against his and their tongues dueled for control "WhyelsewouldIbemarryingyou?" she mumbled into his mouth.

"Sara?" he pulled back instantly..."did you just say what I think you said?" he tossed her words back which were, in reality one of the things he remembered saying to her many years previously when she'd asked if he wanted to sleep with her...She nodded and smiled warmly.

"I said I love you...I have forever" she kissed him again more intensely "WhyelsewouldIbemarryingyou" she did it yet again, mumbling her answer into his mouth as his lips devoured her...

"Would you please stop that?" he pushed her back "You keep saying something and I keep missing it.." he wanted to see her face as she answered him.

"I would gladly answer you question...if you'd actually asked one?" she slipped off the bed and moved into the bathroom where she promptly locked the door and stood behind hit covering her mouth...'oh my God, he honestly wants to marry me...what to do...what to do...but he didn't come out and ask...he kinda just put it out there... what the hell kind of proposal is that?...

"Sa...ra!" he groaned and laid over the bed, head nearly buried under one of their many pillows..."Would you come out and talk to me? I don't like talking through a door" he moaned again.

"You didn't have a problem with the bee netting" she teased.

"Sara pulleeeeze..." he leaned on his elbows and waited "Would you just come out here so we can talk?"

"I think I want to take a bubble bath" she answered then flipped on the water for emphasis.

"Sara Jayne Sidle, if you don't open that door right now..." he swiftly rose off the bed and put his shoulder to the door "I'll...I mean it...I'll" he could hear her laughing from the other side.

"I'm losing my temper here...sweetie...!" his voice went from mad to sickeningly sweet..."You don't want to explain to our homeowners insurance why I had to break down the door..." his voice was nearly sing song now.

Sara sat back on the edge of the tub trying hard to suppress her laugh.

Deciding there was nothing to gain by smashing the door., Gil decided on another tactic...he silently slipped out of the townhouse with Bruno and went for a drive.

Sara waited and waited..."Gil...? Gilbert?" she pushed her ear against the door and heard nothing..."Gil Grissom...are you out there?" she cracked the door enough to only peak out and saw an empty bedroom...no note, nothing. "Bruno?" she called their dog but apparently, he'd taken Grissom's side and wasn't answering her either. She checked upstairs and down then opened the garage door and noticed that his SUV was parked there but he'd taken his car. "Dammit!" she swore softly to herself...wondering if she'd hurt his feelings.

"Well Bruno, what shall we do?" he watched as the big Boxer curled on the front seat and stared out the window. "How about a nice visit to the doggie park?" he laughed thinking how Sara would react when she came out and found him gone...then he swallowed hard...he didn't want her to think he was angry...or that she'd needed to make any decision so suddenly...he didn't want her to make a decision because of pressure and he immediately turned the car around."sorry boy, no park today...Daddy screwed up...again!" he signed and drove toward the townhouse only stopping long enough to pick up a wildflower bouquet from the local florist.

She was sitting on the front steps when he pulled up. Baggy sweatshirt, shorts and her hair pulled up. "Where did you...?" her mouth opened and she smiled when he handed her the flowers.

"I realize when I mentioned marriage..." he got down on his knee, she knew it wasn't an easy feat considering how much his knee joints seemed to bother him after a long case. "I didn't quite say what I meant to and kinda blurted it out..." he reached into his pocket and she stood there stunned "I'm not always the most romantic guy Sara...and I'm not good at words of my own...as you saw with the letter..." he reached out and took her hand "I've loved you for 9 years...since the first time I saw your beautiful smile and heard your laugh and it would make me the happiest man in the world" he pulled open the box he'd been holding in his palm "If you would do me the honor of becoming not only my soul mate, partner and lover but also my wife!" she was crying when she saw the beautiful platinum band with the simple round cut, square set diamond flanked on each side by a baguettes.

"Oh my...Gilbert Grissom...it's stunning..." she looked into his eyes and saw that he was crying "I never saw myself as the marrying kind.." she saw him swallow but he didn't break his stare. "Until I met you...and every day I wondered for so long what it would be like to wake up beside you, to go to sleep wrapped safely in your arms and to know that you belonged to only me...and I to you...you've given me a taste of heaven and I couldn't imagine my life without what I have now...I would be honored to be your wife..." she hugged him to her, there on the ground, Bruno beside them chewing up her flowers she held onto him and kissed his face everywhere her lips could cover...

"Sara...?" she backed away a moment "Could you help me up...I think my knee just went out..." he started laughing so hard the tears streamed down his face..."You sure you want to marry an old man?" he teased as she helped him up only to have her pull him within inches of her face.

I love YOU! You are NOT an old man, not by my standards buddy and I'll love you when you're shuffling along, grouchy, stubborn, wrinkled and...hey..wait...that's how you are now..." she cracked herself up and leaned in for a kiss.

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	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, I think I've just been insulted" he stated indignantly as she continued to kiss him.

"Bruno...Bad Boy!" she stopped kissing Gil and turned her attention to their Boxer who had busied himself shredding her entire bouquet across the front of their town home. "Those were Mommy's you naughty boy!" she wanted to cry because the flowers had been from Grissom.

Gil took her hand and turned her attention back to him. "I think you just...I don't shuffle, I'm not stubborn...and...and" she was laughing at him...well, not at him honestly but at the fact that he wouldn't have recognized a description of himself if he had been looking in the mirror when she gave it.

She nodded as she placed both her hands on his cheeks. "You are stubborn" _kiss _"you do shuffle when you walk, how else do you think everyone in the lab knows when you're coming down the hall?" _kiss..._  
but that's what I love about you...the entire package from your beautifully, sexy salt and pepper hair, your gorgeous blue eyes that make me want to melt, the skin of your neck where I could just suck and kiss you for hours. I love you from your head right down to your sexy bowed legs." She saw his mouth drop open.

"Now you think bowed legs are sexy too?" he seemed genuinely stunned by her admission.

"Yes I do..." she pushed her hand against his chest. "In fact Bugman, I can't think of one thing on this gorgeous body that I don't find sexy." she kissed him again turning the heat up to nearly an inferno as their tongues dueled for supremacy.

They were so wrapped up in each other, Bruno lay forgotten beside them as he busily continued making floral confetti out of her bouquet and neither of them noticed three vehicles pulling up along side the curb.

"Oh my God!" Catherine was more sure than at any other time in her life that Gil Grissom had simply lost his head. "He's just about sucking in her face!" she was awestruck at the public display of affection going on in front of them. The two were oblivious to anything else around them. "And they really do have a dog!"

Warrick sat, mouth agape as they continued to observe their normally non-emotional leader doing a tongue tango on a public walkway. "He's got it bad!" he whispered to Catherine like someone else would possibly hear them. "I didn't know Grissom could even show that much emotion...well, I know when we were searching for her...but I would never have thought...ewwww the thought of the two of them doing...more...ugh!" he sat back in the leather seat of the Denali and shook his head to ward off any further thoughts of the two people before them.

"I just never pictured Grissom playing tonsil hockey with anyone!" she chuckled beside Warrick and continued to watch. "He looks like a pretty damned good kisser if you ask me..." she hadn't meant to say that out loud and Warrick turned to her...

"Oh I could do so...so.. much better..." he looked into her eyes and his green ones dazzled before her. "I could out kiss that man...well...if given the chance..." he turned away, slightly embarrassed by his statement.

"So you want to have a kissing contest with Grissom?" she teased knowing she was pressing him into a corner now. "I don't think there's room in Sara's mouth for anymore tongue..." she laughed heartily "or maybe you want to go tongue to tongue with..." he was squeezing her hand before she got the name out.

"Only one I want to tongue tango with Miss Willows is you..." he winked at her and held onto her hand.

In the other vehicle, Brass and Sophia were also contemplating the happenings outside their SUV.

"I never stood a chance" her voice was low and sad as she watched her two co-workers display of affection for each other.

"Sophia, let me tell you something" Brass reached for her hand. "Gil went to Frisco 9 years ago, did a seminar at Berkley" he sat back and loosened his tie knowing that this was going to take a few minutes. "He came back to the lab...mind you he wasn't the Supervisor...I was at the time...but you already know this..." he continued alternating between making eye contact with Sophia and watching the private party going on down the street. "All he could talk about was someone named..."

"Sara Sidle...let me guess" she sounded genuinely hurt.

"Yup...used to finish his shift and whip off emails to her on a daily basis, of course, he wasn't aware that I knew what he was up to. Hell, I can remember sitting next to his computer one day trying to have a conversation with him and all I heard for 20 minutes straight was "You've got mail!" he laughed now as he thought back to those days. "After Holly died and he replaced me...I knew he had it bad for her when he mentioned bringing her in to keep the investigation 'in house' shall we say." he picked up a can of Coke that he had been drinking earlier and sipped at it. Replacing it in the holder he continued on. "He told me the investigation needed to be handled by someone that would be impartial yet fair and would not be intimidated by how he might react if Warrick was found to be at fault for her death." he stumbled over the last part because in reality, Jim Brass also held himself accountable for the sudden loss of a new CSI as well.

"And Sara was the one he brought in?" she knew it to be true but still formed it into a question. "He really must have trusted her." she picked up his can, gave him an appealing '_mind if we share?' _look and took a sip herself.

"When the investigation was over, she made her recommendations to Grissom..." he remembered the hurt and frustration that had been written all over Sara's features after having met with him and telling him that she would strongly advise him to fire Warrick.

"But he didn't take her recommendation!" Sophia understood that had she been in Sara's position, she would have viewed his refusal as a clear indication that he did indeed favor Warrick Brown over anyone else on his team. "She had to have been pissed off!" she didn't envy the brunettes' position at that point.

"Let's just say Sophia, it was the first of many pains that Gil Grissom caused Sara Sidle" he sat against the door and let it sink in.

"I never meant to hurt her.." Sophia remembered when Sara had found out that Grissom had invited her to dinner. The silent treatment was immediately followed by months of open disdain for anything she said, suggested or did. "He invited me..." she quickly defended herself but realized Jim wasn't looking for that. "I admit, I find him..." she corrected "found him attractive but the entire dinner Jim, I swear to you...he was a million miles away" she smiled warmly. "I knew then that there was never going to be anything between us" she looked back at the couple who still clung to each other. "They do suit each other don't they?"

Brass nodded. "Yes they do..." he patted her hand then twined his fingers with hers. "His loss, my gain" he snickered.

Greg and Nick were in a battle of 'Can you believe that?' while watching their supervisor and his girlfriend embroiled in a game of 'let's get physical' on the streets of Vegas.

"Man, I never stood a chance!" Greg whined to an equally stunned companion. "All that time...I was chasing her like a love sick puppy..."

Nick leaned over "Was? Greggo, you're still chasing her..only this time you better be watching your back because from what I see... she's definitely all Grissom's woman!" he stated that but also felt a sudden pang of jealously or protectiveness...

"I'm going to have nightmares forever" Greg crinkled his brow and laughed "Could you imagine Ecklie coming down the street right now?" he cracked up, Nick joined him and they both could barely breath as they thought about the Lab Director. Suddenly the situation lost its humor. "He's pissed you know..." he looked at Nick "Brass and I overheard him in his office yesterday, got more info than I ever imagined from him without him ever realizing we were outside his door but I can tell you Nick, he's out for blood with Grissom." he was genuinely upset that the Lab Director had made the demands that he had.

"What exactly did he say and to whom?"...Nick was giving him his full attention now, Even the fact that Grissom and Sara had moved inside their town home along with the Boxer had been missed during this conversation...

TBC

I hope you're enjoying this story. It will cover some of the ground of CBS and some that I would like to see or imagine seeing. Any ideas would be welcome...just press that little button...ya know you want to...and let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading...


	3. Chapter 3

Greg was seated in the driver's side of the third Denali telling Nick about the episode that took place outside and inside of Conrad Ecklie's office yesterday.

"I'm walking through the halls yesterday, was on my way to trace with those pieces of plastic we picked up at the scene" Nick nodded in recognition. "Anyway...I see Brass standing outside Ecklie's door, looking like the cat that pretty much has the canary caged and is just waiting for the kill.

Nick turned his full attention back to Greg. "What was he doing outside the door?" he was confused at the thought of Brass loitering around an open office door. Usually he was the one to barge right in and get details.

"He was hilarious man, he was out there and I walk up behind him., made him nearly jump out of his shorts...never heard me coming" he snickered. "He motions for me to be quiet and listen to Conrad doing a lot of yammering on the phone... I'm telling you Nick, whomever he was talking to had to be reaming him a new one on the other end."

He sat forward, arms across the steering wheel thinking back to the day before.

"Hey Brass whatcha doing standing..." he saw Brass, flush against the solid wall beside Ecklie's office, ear to the ready make a motion for him to not only be quiet but to join him. "What's going on?" he whispered to the older man as he stood almost connected at the hip.

"Ecklie's on the phone with someone about Grissom and Sara...I was walking by and it seems like whoever he's chatting with isn't too happy with him..." Jim had a grin like a Cheshire cat.

Ecklie was now pacing the confines of his office, constantly switching the phone from one ear to the next and looking for all the world like his tie was trying to choke him. Greg was willing to go in and give it a hand if need be. "Listen, I'm telling you this has been going on under my nose for far too long...I am not...no, I am not jealous of Grissom..." he looked like he was about to sit then thought better and began another round by his desk. "I specifically asked both of them when they became...you know...yes you do KNOW! Okay, I asked Sidle when her and Grissom started to be...do...become...when they started" watching him stutter over his words was almost too much for the two men and they only wished he was on speaker phone. "listen, I just about came out and asked them both...Sidle said they became intimate 2 years ago...in fact, when I said they were in direct violation ... she corrected me and said "Are" plain as day., flaunting it in my face..." his own face was beet red and he had sweat stains starting under the arms of his shirt. "Grissom said 9 years and I told him they need to get their stories straight...someone is lying to me!"

Whomever was on the other end of the phone must have had one hell of a spiel because for the longest time Conrad Ecklie couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Look, I told Grissom if he had come to me to begin with all of this could have been avoid...no, I'm not about to make an exception now...he told me he didn't, they didn't because and I quote 'we didn't want you to know' end quote." he huffed and blew out his chest. "Okay, if they had the decency to ..." again he was apparently cut off. "No, I would have simply reassigned her to Willows...Catherine Willows, you know, strawberry blond, second in command to Grissom" so obviously, whomever he was talking to wasn't someone capable of making career ending decisions.

"Who the hell is he talking to?" Greg whispered again and Brass shook his head and shrugged his shoulders."

"I have no clue, thought it might have been the Under Sheriff or the Mayor but...they'd know who Catherine was.." it was obvious that whomever it was, they had the upper hand in the phone conversation and Ecklie was losing.

"I simply can't stand by...okay, I agree the rules may be archaic and could be gotten around but if I back down now..." he sat back in the chair and ran a hand over his very sweaty head. "I'd lose face here...I can't simply say...okay I'll look the other way...Yes of course Catherine could handle her evaluations and such but the point is...they didn't trust me..." he was turning beet red again and reached for his ever present coffee cup.

Brass turned and looked at Greg "This is too good., I wish we had a tape recorder" he covered his mouth to keep from being discovered.

"One of them has agreed to move to Swing...yes, I do know...well if Sidle goes which is how I'm seeing it play out...the solve rate would go up for Swing...I can't see her letting Grissom leave Grave...no, I figure she'll...You're asking the impossible...You're accusing me of using my feelings about them against them?" he collapsed against the back of the chair. "That's totally unfair" his voice took on a whining quality "I can't believe you'd think I would stoop to that level." he was muttering under his breath between answers. "Fine, I'm just supposed to say congrats why not take her on the layout table..." he sipped his coffee again. "Because it was a good idea when they first delivered it and no one ever knew about us using it..." he smiled at some vague memory then got back down to business... "No, in this case...what do you mean I can sleep on the couch if I don't?...Fine, fine I'll figure something out..."

It was then that Brass knew...Conrad was talking to his wife and the little tidbit about the layout table was actually going to be a blessing in disguise... although the thought of Conrad Ecklie getting intimate with anyone, let alone in the lab using the...omg using the layout table.. he shuddered at the mental images it conjured up. Brass motioned for Greg to follow him the minute Ecklie hung up from his rather heated conversation. "Get me two pillows and a blanket...bring them to layout...I'm about to have a little game of 'oneupmanship with Mr. Ecklie" he laughed evilly as he walked away.

Greg cracked up laughing and Nick simply sat there with his face a mixture of laughter and confusion.

"So what happened?" he wanted to hear the ending...

"Brass makes the layout table into a impromptu bed...complete with pillows, blankets and a few candles...soft music" he twittered and shifted around in his seat. "Pages Ecklie to layout and when he walks in Brass corners him and says and I quote "Thought I would bring back old times for you and the Mrs. before our teams get broken up again...I guess you should be proud Conrad, no one from Grave would have ever thought to swab their own layout table for DNA and Ejaculate..." and he left him standing there., mouth agape...and sweating bullets...and that's why we're here now...Brass wanted to surprise Grissom and Sara with the news about the schedule changes or lack there of.'"...

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful support and reviews..they mean the world to me...It's fun writing this story but sad because all of us GSR fans are still in suspense as to whether Jorja will stay or go...I'm hoping that the CBS Bigwigs realize with all the support we've shown, just how important she is to CSI...

What you didn't see:

"Brass, what the hell is so important that you needed to overhead me and tell them make it STAT?" he walked into the layout room, gave it at first a perfunctory going over and then as realization began to dawn on him, he switched his glances between Brass and the made up layout table.

"Let's close the door Conrad, I think we'll be here for a little bit...care to get comfortable?" he snickered as he moved behind the Lab Director and swung the door closed. "Seems you don't have a problem with comfort and this room...if my hearing isn't failing me." he added for good measure.

Conrad moved slowly around the room taking in the candles, the pillows and blankets. Greg and Brass had even gone so far as placing little chocolate mints on each plumped pillow. "Is this some kind of joke that I'm supposed to get?" he was stalling., but one look at Brass and he knew that the other man was on to him.

"Well, we could just peel back the covers" Brass pulled out a couple evidence swabs from his suit jacket pocket then put a hand on the blankets. "See what the evidence tells us?" he held them out toward Ecklie and grinned. "I'm sure that we can rush a DNA sample right through seeing that every one of us has ours stored on file...unless of course, you didn't donate...wait...you donated, maybe just not to Human Resources" the laughter that burst forward was uncharacteristic for even Jim Brass but he was honestly enjoying the fact that Conrad had inadvertently put himself in the hot seat.

"What the hell are you getting at?" Ecklie's face was red with either rage or embarrassment.

Brass pulled back the covers and donned a pair of red goggles. "Sanders, could you bring me a light here and turn off the overheads?" Greg entered, red glasses in place with his blue light at the ready. "I am going to see if Gil and Sara are the only ones that have apparently broken the rules around here, I'm more than sure that somewhere in that archaic manual, there's something about screwing your family within the confines of the lab...don't ya think?" he swabbed the table in a back and forth manner with each of the swabs, closed their caps and put them back in his jacket.

Greg was standing there with a huge smile on his face. "In case you didn't know, semen glows pretty brightly and I'm sure there should be enough trace evidence left..." he made a move to turn on the light and Ecklie stopped him immediately.

"Okay, okay...just what do the two of you want?" he leaned heavily against a counter and crossed his arms in front of him.

"Well, this is how it's going to play out" Brass pulled out a chair, flipped it around and sat with his arms leaning on the back of it. "Sara is NOT moving to swing, nor is Grissom" Ecklie opened his mouth and was immediately silenced by Brass' raised finger. "Neither will be punished for their relationship, Catherine can handle Sara's evaluations and any promotions she's due for" Ecklie nodded with lips pursed. "Both will be given the next two weeks off" Ecklie's mouth gaped open and closed "unless a major case breaks open, swing and days can offer people to fill in" he continued in a straight forward manner. "Sara will NOT be the butt of any jokes around here, from the lab rats to the higher ups, she will be treated with the respect she deserves" Ecklie shook his head but was cut off again. "Your job is to handle shall we say '_bad press' _so do your job." he smiled, wiped his hands down his slacks and stood up. "We shall never speak of this little 'meeting' again and we'll all live happily ever after.

Ecklie looked from Greg to Brass "What about those swabs?" he put his hand out nervously...

"No can do Conrad, I like to keep a little insurance policy when I make deals" he smiled victoriously, took Greg by the arm and proceeded to head out the door which Greg had nicely opened for them. Before he got two steps out, he turned to Ecklie who still stood there dumbfounded. "By the way Ecklie...don't forget to clean your room and make your bed!" and with that, they were both gone leaving him to fold up the blankets, get rid of the pillows, blow out the candles and the very last thing he did, even though it was done too late...was to grab a bottle of cleaner and wipe down the layout table from top to bottom.

"I'm such an idiot" he muttered to himself knowing he'd been backed into a corner he could not escape from.


	5. Chapter 5

Gil and Sara had moved into their town home and were busy tossing out what pieces of the bouquet he'd been able to pick up. Apparently, so wrapped up in each other, they'd never noticed the three vehicles parked down the street, nor the 6 stunned people sitting two by two in each one.

Brass started to reach for the door handle "Well I guess it's time to get this show on the road" he pulled back and opened the door but stopped short when he noticed that Sophia wasn't joining him and had not yet removed the keys from the ignition. "What? You're coming in too!" he smiled warmly then turned again to exit but she remained sitting where she was.

"I think maybe I should just wait here" she hesitatingly looked at the older man beside her. "I'm pretty sure that Sara's not going to be as receptive of me coming into their home." she sounded sad and still remained where she was. Jim sat back inside and took her hand.

"Sara knows damned well Sophia that you were as instrumental at finding her, saving her as the rest of our team." he twined his fingers with hers. "Besides, I don't think she's going to feel so threatened with you and Gil in the same room anymore...do you?" he knew that Sophia had originally been enamored with Gil Grissom, hell who wasn't...but over time, with his constantly blowing off her invitations to dinner and refusal to return her phone calls, she realized that his interest in her was strictly platonic and bordered only on a professional level.

"Besides, I think that this moment should be shared by her entire team don't you?" he still hadn't told her what exactly had transpired when him, Greg and Ecklie had their little meeting. He has simply told her that he only wanted to repeat the necessary segments when they were all gathered and only one time as he had originally told Ecklie that he wouldn't ever...well, in reality, he had told Ecklie that they, meaning himself and Ecklie would never speak of the meeting again...but he had meant to each other and not to the team as he was about to do.

"You know, if Conrad finds out you told them...he's going to be pissed" she was worried that he might in turn try to do something to discredit Brass.

Jim patted his pocket to check that his 'evidence' was still in place. "Sophia, I don't think there is anything that Conrad Ecklie can do to top me this time...besides, he dug his own grave and stepped inside all on his own." he grinned and released her hand "Come on...I can't wait to see their faces." he got out and waited till she joined him on the sidewalk.

"Yo, Brass, Sophia...wait up" they heard fast approaching footsteps behind them. Catherine and Warrick were quickly catching up. "You here to see Grissom and Sara?" he shook his head quickly when he thought about what he just said "Yeah...Duh...of course though I think we saw quite a bit already..." he teased as he held onto Catherine's hand. He wasn't even aware he was doing it until he saw Sophia look where there hands were joined. "Oh...sorry" he smiled sheepishly.

"Well, are we going to stand out here all day guys or are we going in to see our friends?" Greg was eagerly dancing from one foot to the next, almost like he had to use the facilities. In reality, he was eager to tell Sara that she wasn't moving to Swing and that she and Grissom were going to be just fine when they returned to the lab.

The six of them made their way up the street to the house then slowly climbed the six stairs that led to their door. Sidle-Grissom was engraved in the brass nameplate on the door just below the brass knocker.

"Well, that's certainly convenient" Nicky poked at the plate and laughed "Looks like they've thought of everything" he was nervous about pretty much bursting in on the two most private people he knew. "Maybe we shouldn't all do this at one time?" he was thinking that perhaps a crowd wasn't the best way to approach this situation although he knew the eventual outcome would be cause for celebration. Just as they were about to knock, the door opened and Gil Grissom stood before them, a look of uncertainty on all of their faces and no one knowing just how to start the conversation.

"Honey...we have company!" he shouted to the open space behind him. Leave it to the one that was usually clueless to figure it out. "Why don't you all come in...since it appears everyone is here.." he peered around them and looked to see if anyone beside the six were there. "You did leave someone at the lab working right?" always concerned for the lab, Grissom was pretty stunned to see his entire team standing on his door stoop.

"Ugh, yeah, we left Archie, Bobbie and Hodges" Greg returned the easy banter "Well, we left Conrad there to so they can keep each other company...we're actually all on standby" he held up his cellphone and pager. "Just in case ya know.." he walked passed Grissom and quickly looked around. The town house had changed since the years he'd been there. The main room still had butterflies and bugs captured and framed under glass but the walls were no longer a stark off white color. Instead, there were deep warm colors everywhere.

"It's different" Catherine looked around, she more than anyone had been to his place on several different occasions, until the last two years when, suddenly it made sense that the breakfasts they used to share suddenly stopped and he started joining the entire team again at the local restaurants and he no longer called her up just to have a chat session with her and bounce off ideas. No, he had Sara in his life, for the last two years if you went by what Sara told Ecklie, and 9 if you went by Gil...the gossip grapevine had been in full swing over the last few days. With the decreased need to seek outside contact, he was able to let a lot into his life. Sara brought a smile to his face, lifted his moods and apparently, she'd managed to bring color into his home. "It's nice..warm and cozy" she looked around and saw a vase of flowers on the dining table. "That's not the same table you used to..." she pointed and he shook his head.

"No, Sara said the old one reminded her too much of the layout table at work and didn't want that here." he smiled proudly.

Brass swallowed loudly and Nicky and Greg cracked up laughing at the thought they all shared. Everyone else turned to them looking slightly bemused and definitely lost.

"Hello...everyone..." Sara came from upstairs dressed in shorts and a tee shirt. "Welcome..." she stretched out her hand and motioned for everyone to head into the living room. "Can I get you all something?" she waited until everyone walked into the room followed by Grissom and they both shared a questioning glance.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thank you for everyone's phenomenal support and encouragement on this project, it's still going strong although tonight, after reading that it is Jorja's decision to leave CSI and not about the money, that CBS had in fact offered her to stay through season 8 and her comment that along the line of 'if the show was on it's last leg she would have tried to hang on...but since it appears that it will be around for a long while...she's pretty much jumping ship. I have to say, my feelings are a little raw and I'm feeling let down after all of the fans jumped on the band wagon and went over and above to convince her., or as we believed the Powers That Be to keep her on the show. With that said, my rant is over and back to the story as I want it to be...guess that's how we GSR fans are going to have to keep it...how we'd like to see it...

Enjoy

The entire crew headed into the living room and picked seats. Each were surprised by the obvious touches that Sara had evidently made to a once sparse and antiseptic looking room. There were Dali prints on the walls between the butterfly displays, curtains hung on windows that had previously been covered only by plain white vinyl blinds. The butterfly and dragonfly patterns on the material were an interesting touch as was the area rug that sat between the various pieces of the cushy leather sectional they found themselves seated on.

"This is so not Grissom" Greg was the first to state the obvious. Gil simply smiled then leaned over and pulled Sara against him.

"You're wrong Greg" he smiled "This was so not the old Grissom but the new one, the one that has someone they love very, very much" he kissed the crown of her head as she rested it on his shoulder. "I admit at first I was a little hesitant..." Sara gave him a cross eyed look and snickered.

"Hesitant? You would have thought I was trying to do a sex change on you..." she fought the laughter that welled up inside of her. "You should have seen him when I decided to donate his old sofa to Good Will...it was like I was throwing away his child." Everyone started chuckling at the picture.

"That sofa had memories" he fiend shock and disapproval.

"Yeah? That sofa was the most uncomfortable and impractical waste of a perfectly good cowhide!" she shot back in mock exasperation. "I was so happy to see them taking it out...and you have to admit, the new stuff is very practical, very comfortable and ..." she smiled shyly "it has some memories itself." they both grinned at each other like idiots...

"Ewwwwwww" Greg jumped up from the sofa and looked where he had been sitting "don't tell me...you've done it here" he pointed to the area he just vacated.

"We've done it everywhere Greg" the eyebrows that shot up around the room and the wide eyed stupefied grins that followed shocked even Sara who was surprised by Grissom's admission. "You can't find a flat surface in my house that hasn't been..." he hugged Sara tightly..."utilized at one time or another..." the grin on his face told did not give it away. Was he kidding or totally serious? And they would never know...

"So, what brings you all here?" Sara broke in, like it was an every day occurrence that the team showed up at their town house? She went to stretch out the fingers of her injured hand that was still casted and in a sling when Catherine noticed a flash.

"What the hell is that?" she jumped up and was over to the two of them. Reaching for Sara's injured hand, she gently bent down for a closer examination. "Damn Girl that is one hell of a rock!" she looked around the room pointing to her engagement ring "When did this happen?" she was not one to beat around the bush.

"This morning actually" she smiled up at Grissom "We decided that we can't live without each other..."

Congratulations were quickly offered and Brass stood up. "Well it's about time you two got some good news...but why don't we get down to the real reason we're all here!" he moved from his seat on the sofa "You two need to sit down" he motioned for Nick to move over so they could find a place on the sectional. No one was surprised when Gil sat down and pulled Sara on his lap.

"There's room over here" Greg pointed to a space beside him. "Sara can curl up by me..." he teased and go a glare from his boss.

"Sara is just fine where she is" Sara laughed "and Gil needs to stop being jealous of my Greggo" Greg put his head down and blushed.

"How come he has a nickname?" Gil pretended to whine.

"Oh...you have one too Gilly bear" she bumped him lightly with her elbow "Oh...was I not supposed to tell them?" she covered her mouth with her hand with the pretense that she'd let a great secret slip.

"Gilly bear?" Warrick and Nick chimed in unison. "Yeah, he's snuggly and hugable and..."

"Watch it...I still have some say in your reviews..." he teased right back and everyone relaxed. Gil was surprised that the team risked simply showing up at his/their door unannounced which was totally like Jim but not something the others would have done on their own and he suddenly started to wonder what exactly brought them there.

"Okay...okay so what brings you all here?" he stiffened slightly as Jim walked over to him, reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two swabs.

"What are these?" he started to reach for them with a quizzical look on his face.

"These my friends are not only your "Welcome back to Grave Miss Sidle" but your "Conrad Ecklie leave us, and the emphasis is on 'us the fuck alone" cards" he laughed and Nick and Greg joined in. Grissom and Sara shared a confused look.

"I don't understand?" Grissom held the swabs in his open palm and saw Ecklie's name and the collection date along with the evidence tag in Greg's handwriting..."What exactly are you giving us?" he had never released his hold on Sara and hugged her tighter.

"That my friend..." Jim began but Greg jumped up in his usual animated fashion.

"Oh please...please let me tell it..." Nick nodded in agreement and knew the enjoyment the entire team would take in his version of the story.

"Go ahead Jim, I just heard it this morning while we were sitting outside..." Grissom looked shocked., amused, embarrassed.

"Outside? How long were you" he pointed toward Nicky "sitting outside?" he knew what had taken place with his openly public display of affection and had hoped they didn't have witnesses...but the look on everyone's faces, which were pricelessly amusing quickly answered his question.

"Hey Sara., is he as good a kisser as he looks?" Catherine couldn't help it...she had to know.

Sara hugged him close and smiled up adoringly. "Yeah Catherine, he really is..." and Gil blushed but also stuck his chest out just a little bit more "He's a great kisser and he's an even better lo..."

"Stop!...Enough...ewwwww please!" Warrick had just gotten the earlier pictures out of his head and now they were coming back full force. "Let's just not go there..." his voice was teasing and everyone laughed.

"Back to why you are all here!" came the authoritative Gil Grissom.

"Well, let me start at the beginning..." and Greg regaled them with the entire tale of finding Brass outside the office, listening in and gathering the pertinent information" he was practically dancing around as he told his version. "Anyway...when he came in and saw the layout table made into a bed...holy shit...first he plays it like he doesn't know what the implication is...but Brass, he's as cool as a cucumber, reaches for the blankets and the shit hits the fan..." Greg fell back into the sofa in a fit of laughter. Gil and Sara stood there totally dumbfounded by what they were hearing.

"So he actually agreed to leaving Sara on Grave?" Gil wanted to make sure that he heard them right. Catherine nodded...

"I'll do your evaluations and any promotions would go through myself and Ecklie but he's not going to give me any problems I'm sure" she smiled wickedly..."You'll still work with every team member" she glanced at Grissom to let him know he was included with the rotations...pretty much, with the exception of the evals, nothing will change...I know you're more comfortable bringing anything to Grissom so I won't take offense if you continue to do that..."

Warrick opened his mouth to protest having thought back to the meeting he'd had with Catherine right after her promotion. He'd had a run in with a prison cop and she'd told him that unlike Grissom who she pointed out was no longer his supervisor at the time, she wasn't about to let anything slide and he would come talk directly to her if problems arose.."I'll be the first call you make!" had been her direct order.

Catherine knew what was coming and cut him off immediately. "When you get kidnapped and buried under a car and survive like Sara did" the admiration was clear in her voice "then you can have a free ticket to take your problems to either of us..." she was teasing but they all knew that it was to make Sara and Gil as comfortable as they could.

"Please, no more kidnappings, shootings" Gil glanced at Jim "No more of our team getting hurt...I couldn't handle anymore" he squeezed Sara's good hand and let go. "Can I get anyone drinks?" he moved toward the kitchen but was stopped by Jim.

"We're not done...there's one more thing..." he waited till Gil moved back toward Sara... "Both of you have the next two weeks off" Gil was going to protest thinking it was a punishment from Ecklie but Jim silenced him "No...nope, not a reprimand from anyone., Greg and I decided to throw that in to the negotiations with Conrad so you have time to heal" he motioned toward Sara "and Gil has time to adjust" he looked at Grissom and received a strange glare in return. "Hey, after I got shot...I had more time than I knew what to do with to think about life and how short it really is" he sat back against the sofa and watched Nicky nod in agreement. "Now I know Sara's fine, I know you claim to be okay with everything but trust me, it may not have hit you yet...and the next two weeks will give you time to help each other...just remember to talk it out" he pointed to Grissom "I know you have a tendency to shut down...but trust me buddy, get it out and both of you deal with it...otherwise it gets ugly and that's all I'm saying" he smiled.

"Now how about something to drink?" Nick decided to lighten the mood...

They all went toward the kitchen and were hanging around various spots chatting as Gil poured ice tea and offered drinks to anyone that wanted them. "You know" he began. "Until I finally let Sara in., I honestly didn't know what family and friends were all about...I mean" he hesitated knowing that this was the first time he was being this open with his entire team. "I had my Mother...but" Sara moved beside him and put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "I took you all for granted for a long time" he wrapped his arm around Sara and glanced down at her "you as well" he seemed somber and the team let him go at his own pace. "I just assumed that every day I would come to work and you all would be there...until...Nicky" he swallowed not wanting to dredge up bad memories..."That's when I decided life was too short, this job was not everything and decided that Sara had pursued me long enough...I'm just glad she had the patience to wait for a stubborn old" he felt her arm tighten around him in warning...they'd had that discussion before when he was using it as an excuse to avoid a relationship. "sorry" he mumbled and the others just looked at him. "Stubborn fool would be a better description..." he looked for her approval and she nodded. "But I decided I needed to have someone to come home to, not something" he looked around "I wanted a life outside of the lab and when Jim got shot...it drove it home even harder how much time I had wasted" he turned and took a drink of his tea "What I'm trying to say is I'm learning to grab life by the horns and I'm grateful that each of you are here today with us...and I hope in the near future that each of you will be here when we set a wedding date?" he looked again at Sara who smiled.

"I have a few requests..." she started with Catherine "I know when I started here, we weren't on the best footing" she watched as Catherine took it in "I know I was an outsider and it seemed like I was going after one of you...which in honesty I was because it was the job I was asked to do" she looked at Warrick who nodded and smiled. "I also know that you were very instrumental in trying to get Nicky back..." but she didn't go into details that Gil had shared with her. "I know now that I have a phenomenal friend in you and I'm hoping you'll do me the favor of being my Matron of Honor? Catherine almost dropped her glass in her rush to hug Sara.

"Oh Sara...you have no idea how much it means to me to be asked..."I'm sorry for all the problems we've had in the past., they were caused as much by myself as you and it took almost losing you to realize that..." she blushed and swallowed hard. "I'd be honored" she kissed her cheek and then hugged Grissom "And you had better realize buster, she has an older sister looking out for her now...I'm just glad you finally got your head out of the microscope" Grissom got her meaning immediately and whispered to Sara that he'd tell her later.

"Brass...you know I don't have a father anymore" everyone looked around. "I don't know anyone that I would rather have walk me down the aisle and give me away then you...would you do me the honors?" she had her arms around his neck and snuggled close like bribery would be needed. Brass wiped the tears away that came to his eyes.

"Cookie, nothing would please me more than to give you away...especially since I now 'KNOW' that you'll be in very capable and loving hands" he looked at Grissom and made a knife jester across his neck and mouthed 'I will kill you if you ever hurt her again' and I'm sure you both will be very very happy together..." his smile belayed what he'd just told Grissom.

She turned to Sophia and smiled "I know that we've had our difference and I also know what it was like to be mistrusted and thought of as an outsider, I have to apologize for knowing how it felt yet treating you like I did." Sophia was stunned to say the least. "I never got to thank you for everything you did to help find me...and before I get any mushier..." Sara swiped at her eyes. "Would you be one of my bridesmaids?" she sniffled then looked at Sophia who couldn't find words and simply nodded that she would.

"Thank you...all of you for everything...for being there for me and never giving up..."

Nicky came to her "I knew it wasn't your day to die" he winked at her and gave her a huge smile "But I'm sure gonna be thrilled to be sharing your big day with you...if I'm invited that is?" he turned a hopeful eye toward Grissom.

"Well that brings up another issue...Nicky and Greg, I'd like you to be my groomsmen if you would?" they both high five each other and did some other happy dance but a confused Warrick stood stoically by...

"Ric" he turned toward his friend. "I'd be honored if you would be my best man since Brass is a little busy and has already been claimed by my Bride to be" he winked at Sara. God how he loved the sound of that. "Oh and Catherine, do you think Lindsey would mind bing our flower girl?" he casually tossed over Warrick's shoulder as the younger man embraced him in a hug. Catherine nodded in amazement and looked at Sara who seconded his request.

"That leaves our little ring bearer" Sara smiled and let out a whistle, Bruno came bounding in from outside and looked around at all the company they had. He immediately came to Sara and sat before her "Bruno, would you do the honor of being my ring bearer?" and everyone started to laugh when the big Boxer wuffed in response. "Okay, that settles that...now, I have everyone in place for the wedding...now we just need to set the day and I was thinking...Gil, do you think maybe the Chapel of Love?" she saw his face drop and he vehemently shook his head.

"Absolutely not!" his voice was booming "There will be no Hunka Hunka Burning Love at my wedding..." he saw everyone staring at him .

"How about afterwards?" Sara leaned against him, reached up to cup his head and draw him down into a kiss. "You'll do those pelvic moves for me on our wedding night right?" she was teasing him as his mouth covered hers.

"Honey...I'd do it at the wedding if it made you happy." he kissed her again, openly and unashamed that he could so freely do so and not feel that he was being judged.

"Okay...okay Elvis, Priscilla...stop" Brass covered his eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone had finally left, it had been an extremely rewarding yet tiring day. Sara had already dozed off on the sofa while Grissom straightened up the place, took Bruno out back to do his business and then closed up the house for the night. He stood in the living room watching his beautiful fiance with her head tipped forward lightly snoring.

He turned and went into their bedroom and turned down the sheets, dimmed the lights that were turned on earlier and proceeded to lay out her nightgown and fluff her pillows. He then went back to the living room and sat down beside her and gently caressed her cheek. "Come on sweetie, let's get you to bed" she smiled as the back of his hand slid around her cheek and then down her neck. "I've got the bed all ready and your jammies are waiting..." he cooed softly. Sara did not want to open her eyes, she relished moments like this and knew that eventually he would simply pick her up and carry her which he immediately did. "Come on princess" he laughed as he headed toward their bedroom. "Glad to see you've been taking the doctor's advice and eating..." he teased "you've packed on a few pounds" she reached up and grabbed a handful of his gray curls.

"You so better take that back mister or you're sleeping on the sofa tonight..." she was smiling up at him as he entered the room and gently deposited her on the bed. "You have some major kissing up to do now!" the lilt of her voice told him she was kidding but the pout on her face made him quickly crawl on the bed next to her.

"I kiss up to no one Miss Sidle soon to be Grissom or Sidle-Grissom..." but his mouth descended on hers and they stopped only when they both needed to come up for air.

"I see..." she smiled then pushed herself up the bed till she was seated with her back against the headboard. "Well I'm certainly glad you showed me" she laughed then looked down at the ring that adorned her hand. "It's really happening isn't it?" she looked up at him as he watched her. He nodded with a huge grin on his face. "Soon I'm going to be your wife..." she hesitated for a moment and he sat down beside her.

"Does that make you uncomfortable? To be thought of as my wife?" he knew earlier they'd joked about becoming someone's property but he hoped that she didn't think that was how he saw it. She shook her head and looked at him. "You know, you belong to no man, but I hope your heart will always belong to me and mine...well I know without a doubt it belongs to you and only you..." he took her good hand in his own and played lovingly with her fingers.

"We've never talked about ... ya know...chil...k...kids" she stumbled over the words and for a moment, she thought he was going to pull his hand away from her. She chewed nervously on the inside of her lip as she waited patiently for his answer. "I want you to be honest with me Gil, if you don't want them...I'm f...fine with that" she sniffed slightly and he heard the pause in her words. "If you do...that would be fine with me too though I don't know if I'd make very good Mother material" she still feared that somewhere there just might be a murder gene and she hoped that what Grissom had told her was true.

Grissom sat back and measured his words carefully. "Sara, if you wanted to have a baby or babies..." he swallowed "I wouldn't be opposed to the idea" he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "If you decided that you didn't want to have children...that would be okay too" he wanted her to understand that in his old fashioned way, he believed that the desire or lack there of belonged to the woman since it was her body that would be forced to change on a daily basis.

"But you're not saying what you really want" she was pleading with him, unaware that he had just give the best answer he could.

"Sara, sweetie...it's not that I can't make up my mind, but before I can...I have to know what you're feeling" he tried again to explain "It's not my body that would be going through the changes though I think I would like to see it, I think you'd be beautiful pregnant" he touched her stomach lightly and felt her gasp. "But I don't need to have children to know you love me" he kissed her gently and slid down so his head rested on her stomach as he turned onto his back and looked up at her.

"But would you want a child?" she sniffled while staring down into the depths of his ocean blue eyes.

"I want what you want Sara...I don't want you to do something or not do something because you're afraid of how I'll react" he reached up to touch the tears on her cheeks "I want a child because you want one...and I don't if you don't. I know it sounds like I'm avoiding the question but it's how I honestly see it., the woman should be the one to decide what she want to happen or not with her body. Do I think you'd be a good Mother? Absolutely!" he stated without hesitancy "Do I think it would be scary? ...Hell yes, change is scary" he licked his lips and continued. "But I'm learning that change is good, wonderful in fact" he reached his hand behind her head and drew her down over him in a sensual kiss. "I'm here 100 no matter what you, me...or we decide...I'm not going anywhere Honey...I hope you believe that?" he kissed her again and felt her smile against his mouth.

"I love you so much Gilbert Grissom you are a wise and wonderful man" and with that she slid over him and lifted her shirt above her head "and suddenly, I'm not as tired as I thought I was..." she winked and wiggled around until she was straddling his thighs. "Wanna make a baby?" his eyes took on a blue the likes she's never seen and he smiled as he kissed her once again...

TBC...


	8. Chapter 8

They woke the next morning and decided to share a shower "Come on Gil, it will conserve water and you know we're in the middle of a drought?" she tugged at his arm trying to dislodge him from under his cocoon of blankets.

"Wanna sleep, you wore me out last night" his muffled voice, thick with the usual sound of early morning was coming from under the vicinity of her pillows. "It's not right...you're too young for me...I'm broken, you've broken me and now you won't even let an old decrepit man get the last vestiges of sleep" he continued moaning and mumbling from deep within the blankets.

Sara felt around under the blankets until she located the 'area' in which her hands were searching. "Ah...well Grandpa...it seems that something else managed to get it's ... head up this morning." her hand squeezed him very gently and she felt him turn under the blanket and move further into her hand. "See, I have your attention and if you join me in the shower...after you wrap my cast of course, I will make it worth your while" she teased him slightly and felt him unwillingly thrust forward.

"If you donngnggggggggggg stopppppp" his voice wavered heavily under the blankets..."Saaaaaaaaaaaraaa" he knew she wouldn't stop her ministrations without some incentive and decided to take matters into his own hands. He reached around blindly until his hand landed on her breast and then the fun began.

Latching two fingers onto the nipple, he gave a squeeze that caused her to yelp. "What the hell was that for?" she sounded slightly exasperated. Gil gave an evil laugh and squeezed again, not as hard this time but sending a clear signal that he wasn't about to stop anymore than she was. Each time she squeezed him, he pulled and twisted at the nipple that was now perked and sensitive to his touch. "You can stop at any time!" her voice was thick and husky.

"So can you" he was telling her in no uncertain terms that they were now on equal footing. "You started it!" he laughed then found her face under the blankets and released his tenuous hold. Moving closer, he started to lean in for a kiss when her fingers moved like petals in the wind against his flesh and he bucked his hips forward "You play dirty Miss Sidle" her laugh was contagious and she leaned forward, not yet releasing him and pressed her lips to his.

"That's exactly what you love about me" she was more sure of herself today then when they'd gone to bed.

"Nope...it's only a part of what I love...what I have loved about you" he pulled her down and gently crawled on top of her this time, pinning her good arm over her head. "I loved your smile, the gap in your teeth" she closed her mouth suddenly and he shook his head "No sense hiding it sweetie, I've seen it all" his eyes skimmed over her naked form and the blush crept up slowly. "I remember your curly hair pulled back into a pony tail, you had on faded denim jeans with a butterfly embroidered on the back pocket, right cheek if I remember correctly" her eyes widened in astonishment as he continued "your shirt was some funky tie dyed orange" her face scrunched in laughter "but on you it worked..." he kissed her again, slow and passion filled. "You had on these strappy sandals and all I could think of was how sexy your toes looked painted to match your shirt. "I just couldn't take my eyes off of you and..." she smiled sweetly and sighed.

Sara sat up again and uncovered both of their heads. "I remember you had on this soft baby blue shirt, little tab loop on the left collar" she reached out and ran a finger up his arm. "Pressed Chinos that hugged your butt just so" the smile on her face was a cross between "Brown driving moccs that looked adorable on you feet" you were wearing a gold wrist watch and no wedding ring and I suddenly knew there was a God when I saw no tan lines where one might have been removed" her finger nail traced the pads on his fingers and trailed down to the palm of his hand." God I would have been heartbroken to find out you were married" the honesty took him by surprise.

"You were that certain back then?" he nudged her with his shoulder and looked deeply into her eyes. She nodded without hesitation.

"I was so certain until the day you had to leave" she put her chin down "That you might have feelings for me, when I watched you walk away at the airport and you didn't turn around..." a sob escaped. "I wasn't so sure...I mean...I know now...but then, after the things we shared and the things we'd done..." he lifted her chin with his finger and brought her eyes up to look directly in hers.

"I know that I've give you many reasons to doubt me" he swallowed "I know that it took me forever to admit how I felt when I brought you here" she nodded knowing that honesty was simply the best policy right now. "I pushed you away and pulled you back just enough to keep you at arms length...I'd give you little tidbits of ... something...just to keep you nearby but not close enough but I never told you the real reason I did that..." his eyes began to tear.

"Are you ready to tell me now" she sat straighter and kept a hand on his knee. "If you're not, I'll understand but I've always been curious...I sometimes felt like a fish on a line. You'd bring me in close enough to see what I could have then reel me out so I didn't get too close...and when you told l me I deserved to have a life...but then made it obvious it wasn't with you...then..." she couldn't bring herself to mention Hank ever again but she would if he wanted to discuss this.

"When I saw you...with him...I didn't want to believe you could simply move on" she shook her head vehemently to say something but he continued "when Philip brought him up ... and then when I read the transcript from the trial and how you were made to look...because of me...because you innocently wiped away some plaster..." she had a smile on her face that just crinkled the corners of her lips slightly. "What? What are you smirking at Sara?" he sat back waiting and his mouth dropped when he heard her whisper.

"There wasn't any chalk..." she swallowed but wouldn't look at him. He turned her toward himself and motioned for her to continue. "You just looked so cute, hot and flustered and you were going on about your blood pressure and how you knew the guy was making a fool out of you...and I suddenly had the urge to simply touch you...I knew if I kissed you right then and there...you'd have walked away...so I made it up..." she honestly looked a little guilty until she heard his deep belly laugh.

"What? What's so damned funny?" she was astonished by his behavior "You know, my reputation was called into question because of that little indiscretion. She was flustered herself right now and was stunned when he couldn't stop laughing. "Would you please stop and tell me what's so damned funny?" her voice was cracking with a mixture of confusion and something else.

"I'm sorry Sara., you pulled it off with such a poker straight face. I never imagined that you made it up...I was hoping there was more to it...and when you did touch me, you took my breath away..." he held her hand tighter and there was a slight look of sadness about him. "I wanted to kiss you right then and there myself. I thought you looked so damned hot in that jumpsuit...she snickered at him now "Sorry, but now that I know what's under that baggie outfit, I get so hard just picturing you." his heartbeat upped a notch or two and he put the palm of her hand against his chest. "Feel what you do to me Sara Jayne Sidle" he felt he press her delicate palm against him. "You make my heart beat faster than any criminal" he meant it as a compliment but her face screwed up telling him she wasn't getting it. "You stole my heart...my heart and soul...and that's the reason...I'm so afraid of you" the end of the statement got muttered in a jumbled heap.

"What was that?" She moved her head closer to his lips "What did you just say?" He shook his head, bit his lip and sat silently, afraid for the first time that what had slipped out would destroy everything he'd finally allowed himself to have..."Grissom...I need you to tell me what you just said..." her voice held a bit of impatience...Grissom looked up and suddenly the blue of his eyes reminded her of an ocean tidal pool that just broke forth.

"I'm afraid of you..." he mustered the courage to repeat himself but quickly tried to avert his eyes. Sara opened her mouth to say something, quickly closed it and knelt before him taking his face in both of her hands.

"What? Why are you afraid of me? Are you still convinced that I'll grow tired of being with you?" He nodded slightly "Are you afraid that I'll fall out of love with you?" he chewed his lip and nodded. "I have a ring on my finger right now that I swore I would never have...and if I did, it would ONLY and I repeat ONLY be on my hand because I was deeply and madly...yes madly in love with the person that gave it to me...but you know what else I told myself?" she held fast to his face and refused to let him break their eye contact. "That there was only one person in the world that I would ever marry...he had to be EVERYTHING to me...and it had to be forever...and Bugman...the ONLY one that fit that criteria is YOU!" she kissed him softly on each "Now, why else would you be afraid of me?"  
she knew that there had to be more to it and was certain that if they didn't get passed this...they wouldn't be able to move forward. Grissom hesitated a moment, tried to move his face from her hands but a quick shake of the head told him she'd settle for nothing but the truth.

"Because...if you did, fall out of love...with me" he whispered "you would leave only an empty shell with no heart, no soul and no desire to live..." he was crying again. "Because you would destroy me and no one has ever held that power over me before..." he said it and suddenly felt free for the first time in all the years he'd held that secret buried inside like Pandora's Box only this time...when he opened it...the fear wasn't set free...it was allowed to be faced and destroyed.

"Now...that wasn't as hard as you thought was it?" her voice was light and she was actually smiling at him. He was stunned into silence then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap. "It was almost as difficult as letting you inside my heart...but in the end...it's all worth it if we get to be together forever!" and he drew her down onto the bed laying flush on his body. "Wanna make a larva?" he threw her words at her from the previous night with his own little entomological twist in there.

"A larva? Are you nuts Bug...oh never mind...if you want to make a larva, who am I to stop you...?" and it was a race to get back under the blankets and start...


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Don't own them or someone would be glued to 10 more years on the show...But thanks for letting me borrow them and twist them into what I WANT TO SEE!

A/N: I have so many to thank...your reviews have helped when the news about Jorja came, it was hard for me to want to continue but I have to say...if you can't have the real thing...make it up as you go...so, for all of you who have reviewed and those that have put me on their alert list...THANK YOU! I will name you all eventually but my head is so filled with getting most of this story out BEFORE the dreaded 'leave' that I hope you will understand and take a few extra chapters as opposed to seeing your name in print...I love you all...

Enjoy:

Conrad was giving everyone the cold shoulder. He was more than convinced that the entire team had been informed of his little 'indiscretion' with his wife and he wasn't risking it. He gave everyone including the lab rats a wide berth and for a time, the entire building seemed to be running at a pace that kept everyone busy but without the usual double and triple shift. It was like Las Vegas had taken a vacation from crime.

"I can't believe, we've been off two whole days so far and no one has called us in!" he paced around the room for what had to be the 20th time since they woke an hour ago and Sara figured if he went much longer, she'd be pulling her hair out.

"If you want to call them..." she sounded frustrated "call them...if you want to go in...then for God sake just go, in it's your lab!" she huffed then got up from where she had been seated and walked into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. "I had hoped you'd want to do something today...but if you're so easily bored being here with me..." she seemed genuinely hurt.

Gil tried to rationalize how he was feeling. He was glad for the time with her, he honestly was but he also didn't like the idea that for two weeks he'd, they'd be out of the proverbial 'loop'. He hated that feeling, things could be going on at the lab and Catherine would just as easily forget to tell him and use the excuse 'you were on vacation...you didn't need to be bothered with it'. He would argue with her of course that she knew after all these years that he liked to be kept abreast of everything and she'd tell him to go home and be with Sara.

"What did you have in mind?" he came in and saw her hunched over the breakfast bar looking at the local paper. Sara never read the local paper and he knew in an instant she was upset. "Sweetie, it's not that I don't enjoy being here with you, I do..." he reached out and gently touched her shoulder but she shrugged it off.

"Just go Gil!" she rested her head on her casted arm "I know your head is at the lab" she turned on the barstool she was seated on "I know Honey, I know your heart is here" she put her hand on his chest "But this" she touched his forehead "is 25 miles away and wondering what is going on that you the great Gil Grissom isn't aware of" she gave rye smile. "Without both of them here together...you're going to be miserable..." she leaned her head against his chest then nuzzled the skin of his neck "And I wouldn't want to be the cause of your...misery" she reached over with the other hand and unbuckled his belt "However...if there were a way to keep your heart and your 'head'' here" she inched her finger slowly into the waistband of his boxers and chewed her lip thoughtfully "I certainly wouldn't mind having a 'hand' in keeping you here..." she chuffed out a small laugh with her nose pressed against his chest.

"You are incorrigible" he kissed her tenderly "but I'm not going anywhere without you" he straighted up and began re buckling his belt to the disappointment of Sara "I think we can find a number of things to do...It's Las Vegas for crying out loud!" he pulled her off the stool and dragged her behind him. "Get dressed, we're going to become tourists for the day!" he pushed her into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She spun to see if he was with her and found herself alone. Opening the door a peak, she caught him changing into khaki slacks and his garishly decorated Hawaiian shirt. "Gilbert you are not wearing that outside of this house!" he turned like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "I'm a tourist...remember?" he grinned and hoped she would change her mind when it looked like she wouldn't he said "Then I'm wearing your 'favorite' hat' and he stuck out his chin in defiance.

"If you wear that...then..." she closed the door trying to remember if she owned anything outlandish. She went to their walk in closet and began pulling together and ensemble and only finished when she pulled out fishnet stockings and 3 inch heels. Gil watched her but didn't say anything as he sat waiting on their bed, blue and white shirt and goofy straw hat perched on his head. Thirty minutes later, after some muffled curses and some other things he hadn't been able to make out, Sara emerged dressed in the shortest red leather skirt he'd ever seen, black fishnets encased her mile long legs, the blood red heels she wore matched the glossy lipstick she normally would never have touched. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a curly mess and she had on hoop dangle ears that looked like she borrowed them from some 'working girl' she'd run into over the years. "You like?" his mouth dropped and his eyes opened wider than she'd ever remembered. Her top was a net material  
l of black with fur around the collar that just covered the top of her breasts. Gil stood up and took it all in, then his mood suddenly changed.

"There is no way in hell!" he pointed back to the closet "You are not going out looking like some high priced call girl!" his finger remained pointing in the direction in which she'd just come. "Get back in there, take off that ridiculous outfit and for God sake, wash that stuff off your face...you look like you could be working for..." he'd almost slipped, he'd almost said Lady Heather "one of Sam Braun's Casinos" he corrected but he was almost certain by the slamming of the door that Sara knew exactly what he'd almost shouted.

Sara stood in the mirror looking at the ruby red lips and pouted. Yes it was garish and more makeup than she'd ever put on in her entire life. As a little girl, she'd never been allowed to touch her Mother's stuff and heaven forbid, makeup and personal items didn't stay with you long in foster care. No, someone would take a liking to what you had and before you knew it, either they took it forcibly or if you were lucky, you'd learn to trade it off for something you needed. "I do not look like one of Lady Heather's call girls!" she hissed into the air and opened the door.

"If I'm taking this as you stated 'ridiculous outfit' off"' she tapped her nails on the door frame and waited for him to give her his full attention. "Then there is no way in hell you're wearing that stupid thing you call a hat or that Hawaiian rag you're so fond of..." and she slammed the door closed once again and sat by the sink crying. Gil knew she was pissed off now. She teased him often about his shirt, it was a gift from someone he'd met once in the rain forest and it was comfortable. The hat kept his head cooler than the department issued caps and he simply liked it but until now, he'd never realized that Sara honestly seemed to hate both of them so he took them off and walked over to the garbage can near her side of the bed and tossed them both in. 'If she doesn't like them...then I guess I can give them up..." he felt a sadness like something else about him was going into that basket with his things but he couldn't put his finger on it.

When she came back out, she was once again wearing pajamas "I've decided I would rather stay in and read a book...you an go...if you want but I'm not!" her voice came out loud and defiant.

"Sara...stop acting like a spo..." he stopped when he saw the glare. "Fine! If you want to stay here by all means, be my guest" his arms swept around the room "Hide from the world...but I'm going out!" and he picked up his keys, wallet and wristwatch then turned around and without so much as a goodbye, walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs where he said "See ya Bruno!" to the dog and he was gone. Sara sat on the mattress absorbing the things that had just happened and for a moment with a satisfied shrug, picked up one of the books on her nightstand and was just going to tuck back under the blankets when she looked down and saw where Gil had tossed his favorite hat and shirt.

"Oh no...what have I done?" she covered her face with her hand after having pulled them from the trash. His scent clung to the shirt like a welcoming breeze but one that reminded her that although she meant to dress up as a joke and push a few of his buttons, she would never have honestly expected him to give up the two items he always seemed to wear while off the clock. "He was willing to give these up because I said I hated them...I didn't mean that you were stupid" she stated to the hat as she gently straightened it back to the way he liked it "You're not an old rag" she pulled his shirt up to bury her face in it and tears streamed uncontrollably. When she'd cried herself out...she decided to figure out a way to apologize to him for her behavior.

Gil went to the lab, just as she knew he would and walked through the front door. "Hey Brass" he smiled cordially but was rewarded with a stunned look "What the hell are you doing here Grissom" he looked around his friend "And where is Cookie?" he gave him a moment to answer "don't tell me, you're both fighting already?" Jim had been married before and divorced and knew exactly the work it to to make a marriage., not that it had been a success for him but he knew the tension that led up to his wedding day. "We're not fighting..." he fidgeted nervously "not exactly...we had a disagreement and ..." Jim immediately spun on him "And typical dumb ass Gil, instead of staying there and talking it out...you have to run away and hide at the lab...I warned you buddy...I told you not to hurt her..." he was a brilliant red from his white shirt collar on up.

"All I wanted..."Jim motioned for him to leave "Brass would you let me explain..." Brass was now pushing him toward the door when Gil whipped around to stop the forward momentum, instead, Brass spun him around, slammed him face first against the wall and had him handcuffed before Grissom could even defend himself. "No, you couldn't stay home and work this out..." he was manhandling Grissom down the hall way out to the parking lot.

"For God sakes Brass take these f'n things off me now!" his voice bellowed and he found they suddenly had an audience. "Gil struggled to free himself from the talon like grip that the older man had on him. "Now Brass!." They didn't get far down the hallway and Brass shoved him into one of the interrogation rooms. "Now!" he turned his back so Jim could take the handcuffs off but instead, Brass pulled out one of the chairs and pushed him down into it...

"Not before I have my say..." he pulled the chair beside Gil out and put a foot onto the seat then leaned on his knee. "I've watched you pussyfoot around that girl for years, I've seen her cry buckets of tears because you had your head so far up your ass that you couldn't see that the best thing for you was an arm lengths away which is where you obviously prefer to keep her... Gil was shaking his head and trying to get Brass to pay attention to the fact that the cuffs were killing his arms.

"Brass please? Take these off..." he turned again and this time Brass did as he ask, he removed one side but quickly clicked it closed on the arm of the chair. "Oh God, Brass where the hell did you think I was going to go...take this thing off me now..." he jangled it against the wood. Brass refused and sat back, arms crossed, ass on the table now.

"When I'm done, I will release my captive audience...got it?" He didn't want for a reply, he knew if he got one, it wasn't about to be polite. "So, about Cookie..." his voice became deathly serious. "She loves you, always has and for the life of me...I sometimes question her sanity...but she does and I know...I saw it for myself that she's your world...used to be the lab was but I'm glad you pulled your head..."

"Out of my ass" he stated it at the same time..."if you would let me tell you what happened, you'll see that me being here was better than sitting home staring at the walls..." his pleading tone gave Brass a moment of pause.

"Fine...but it better be good" So Gil told him how it started, yes he was originally contemplating a stop at the lab but not just himself, he was planning on bringing Sara with him...then they'd visit a bit and go spend the day being tourists. He told him about the stupid argument about his hat, which of course Brass was immediately on Sara's side with that...why everyone hated his hat was beyond him...it was light, comfortable and functional as far as Grissom could tell you. Then he got on to the part where Sara came out looking like...

"Someone that could be working at Lady Heathers" he stated flatly.

"Tell me you did not mention her name to Sara...Gilbert Grissom!" his tone was a great barometer of his mood and Grissom knew how little respect and how much dislike there was between Brass and Heather to start with.

"I almost said it...but I didn't...she knew anyway..." he hung his head ashamed for admitting that Sara knew him better sometimes than he knew himself. "She looked like a whore dressed like that...ruby red lipstick, hair pulled up like...red leather mini skirt and 3 inch ...heels...Only I am supposed to see her like that...well not like that but ... she was showing way to much skin and ...she looked cheap!" Grissom couldn't forget the look of her when she had come out dressed like that "I won't have it Jim, I won't have her lowering her standards, even if it was a joke!" he was to ashamed to admit now that he might have just gone overboard in his original reaction but his best friend knew immediately.

"Did you tell her...or...did you start yelling at her?" the answer was obvious when Gil refused to make eye contact with him...

"I demanded" Jim's eyebrows shot to his hairline, "that she go back in the bedroom closet and change...she got pissed and said my hat was ugly and she hated my Hawaiian shirt..." Jim was doing his best to cover his mouth against his closed fist. "What the hell are you laughing at?" Grissom honestly didn't understand people and Jim wasn't doing anything to strengthen his feelings right now.

"You left a beautiful woman because she said your ... hat ...was ... ugly?" Grissom nodded encouragingly. "And because she hates that blue and white monstrosity you call a shirt?" he chuckled harder and Grissom shook his head. "Buddy, you need to learn a few things.." he sat down beside him and shook his head as Grissom implored him silently to release his handcuffed wrist. "No can do until you hear me out." he started in.

"When a woman says "Does this dress make my ass look fat" you Mr. Scientist would get cuffed upside the head because you would assume she wanted an honest opinion. Gil nodded and for his reward, Brass slapped him upside the head. "Dumb ass., you could look at her and tell her "Baby...it doesn't matter what you wear, you're perfect to me...nothing would make the ass that I love look fat.." he shook his head with knowing authority. Gil sat there with his mouth open.

"So you lie to her?" he was awestruck that people should actually do that.

"You find a way to keep her from wearing the dress and to keep her happy if you want to get any that night and I'm not talking about sleep on the sofa if you get my drift." he sighed knowing he had his work cut out for him. "Woman want to feel good about themselves but there is always an underlying insecurity where their men are involved...so you ALWAYS make sure that your woman feels good about themselves. You could say "I don't like the cut of that dress, it does nothing to accentuate your assets" and the woman is happy and you've just kept your foot out of your mouth and a reserved sign on your side of the bed.

"But if honesty is the best policy..." he got another smack as Brass wiped a tired hand over his face.

"You can be honest without being hurtful..." he was trying to think back to when he was actually married but it had been a union of dishonesty from the very beginning. His new relationship with Sophia had not progressed to the point where he was even comfortable mentioning it. "You find a way that keeps them happy without hurting them...THINK BEFORE OPENINGYOUR MOUTH!" he patted Gil, unlocked the key and smiled..."simple as that though I can now see why you've been single so long..." and with that...Brass left him to his thoughts.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you to everyone with their continued support of this fanfiction. The reviews have knocked my socks off...and I owe you all for making it so incredibly much more fun to write. I don't own them...if I did, I'd be playing some cruel and evil jokes on all the other channels and making CBS show up everywhere at anytime day or night...thanks again.

Catherine was seated behind the desk of Gil Grissom balancing the budget and going through case files that had been stacked in his room for well over the last few months. She knew that Ecklie didn't need any excuses to be on their backs so she worked her ass off all day having sent the team off on two cases.

Warrick was paired with Greg this time, their case was a B&E at the Luxor casino and they'd been gone most of shift.

Nick was working another trick roll and hadn't been to happy to be assigned to what he now considered his forte..."Come on Cath...give it to Greggoooo" he whined and she started laughing. "Store owner asked specifically for CSI Stokes...I'm serious Nicky, I was going to give it to him but ... When you're called..." she handed him the report "You're called and buddy, that busty blond has your number" she shook her hips and started to walk away. "We're meeting for breakfast to discuss the party don't forget.

"How could I? It's been the talk of the lab all week..." he sauntered down the hall flipping the report over and taking notes as he made his way to his vehicle.

Gil and Sara were in the parking lot exiting their car when Nicky spotted them. "Hey guys couldn't keep away from work?" the teasing felt so normal now. Conrad Ecklie had pulled up, the passenger in his wives car, no one noticed them sitting parked under the only tree in the parking lot. He looked over at his wife and started to share his opinion of the public display of affection that Grissom was showing as his arm went around Sara's waist and he pulled her in tight to his side.

"You see that? Out in the open for everyone to see!" he was posturing in the car, hands waving wildly but his wife simply looked confused.

"Well, it's very obvious that he loves her." she stated simply.

"Fine, the old guy loves the young chick!" he was about to say more when his wife shot him a frustrating glance.

"I'm what Conrad, 13 years younger than you?" Conrad nodded "And you said that Gil is 15 years older than Sara, I don't get it….where is the difference with the exception of two years….two tiny years?" she reached out a calming hand and ran it down the side of his face. "If you feel that way about them, what does it say about your feelings regarding us? Our age difference is nearly the same."

Conrad didn't know how to answer. It simply hadn't ever occurred to him that he was pretty much doing the same thing as Gil Grissom. "But you weren't my subordinate" he was skating on shaky ground looking for reasons to exalt the lack of etiquette that he believed the two were showing.

"No, I wasn't darling, I was your boss's secretary…." she chuffed lightly then reached down took his hand in her own. "Conrad, what bothers you more? That Gil kept her when you told him you wanted her fired? That Gil Grissom has finally found someone that loves him and who he can love? Be honest with me…" she turned toward him and waited while he thought about it. "You know the rules in the lab are old and shouldn't even be in place, you say together they have the highest solve rate." he nodded unable to deny what she was saying. "I know that you said Sara can be stubborn, doesn't hesitate to voice her opinion and doesn't respect authority. Is it really authority or is it you?"

Conrad's jaw dropped but for once, he held back his usual knee jerk reaction and thought before he said anything. "I wish I knew, she rubs me the wrong way." He sat back and sighed deeply.

"Perhaps because she reminds you of yourself?" she knew he would balk at that statement. "Hear me out Conrad" she reached forward and turned off the ignition. "She's as ambitious and driven as you are." she smiled "She had, until now no life outside of the lab am I right?" He nodded. "Listened to scanners, willing to show up just in case the shift that was on was short handed? Working doubles, triples, not eating or sleeping properly….sound familiar?" He was going to argue then smiled at her. She understood all to well. "It almost cost you everything" she held his hand and squeezed gently "But in the end, you found that you could balance your job, your drive and me….and you've done an admirable job" she leaned over and kissed him sweetly. "Now, do me a favor, give them a break?" and she motioned him to get out of the car "I'm late for my breakfast with the Ladies Auxiliary."

Conrad didn't know how he got so lucky. His wife loved him no matter what. Truth be told, he wasn't an easy person to get along with on most days. He started to wonder about the similarities between himself and the Grissom/Sidle issue. He would guess, if push came to shove and he was forced to admit it., he kind of admired Grissom. He'd managed to pull the wool not only over Conrad's eyes but the mayors' and his entire team though he was willing to guess Jim Brass wasn't so blind. He knew that Grissom couldn't be an easy person to get along with either but somehow; Sara Sidle had managed to not only win his heart but give him something that made him choose to take a risk of losing his job. Love was an amazing thing when it was right and Conrad couldn't help but feel that this time, Grissom was the lucky one.

They continued into the building, Grissom kissed her one last time as she headed off to visit her friends and he headed toward his office to meet with Catherine.


	11. Chapter 11

Gil was seated in his office going over everything that he'd missed in the half week that he and Sara had been away.

"For God sake Grissom, I'm not about to blow up the lab...again!" Catherine started and then had to quickly catch the statement and correct herself. She had in fact done it once before but Gil, being in a good mood let it slide.

"We were in the neighborhood and Sara missed our friends" Cath's head shot up. It still felt strange to have him openly refer to either Sara and himself together or the fact that he finally referred to his team mates as friends. Grissom knew what was going through her mind as she looked at him. "Yes Cath, you are our friends and our family..." he opened up a folder and began to peruse the files. "I'd like to talk to you about promotions...not that they're happening right now...or I'm considering stepping down or anything...at the moment" he added. "But in the future well, I have to know that the people that take over would be the right ones for the job.

Catherine appeared solemn "Well, considering everything else, I guess it makes sense" her voice held a hesitancy she couldn't hide "I just can't imagine the lab without...you..." she wouldn't presume to guess if Sara would remain if he left. "Who are you thinking?" she sat back pencil tapping lightly on her lips.

"I know the lab would be in good hands if you were in charge" he smiled at her then stretched back into his chair pushing back enough to cross his legs. "Providing they keep you far enough away from any heat sources" he teased lightly and Catherine shared a laugh with him. "But..." her head was up, "I do know that with the empire Sam left you" he was ill at ease discussing the late Sam Braun but knew it had to be done. "I need to know where your head and your heart are?" it was an honest and not altogether simple question. He'd heard rumors that Catherine had been attending meetings with architectural committees about building new casinos and although it wasn't illegal, it could at some point in the future cause a conflict of interest with her job at CSI.

"Well, I have to consider Lindsey and my future" she began as honestly as she could. "Right now, my life is here at CSI but I can't guarantee that's always going to be the case if that's what you're looking for to base any decisions on." she knew that he would understand, especially now that he himself had been forced to consider career changes. "I would consider Warrick as an alternative choice to lead Grave with Nick as his second" she voiced up and took a deep breath. "I mean, if you were considering me at all..."she didn't want to seem to presumptuous.

"You know I would recommend you to take my place...when the time comes" he rocked slowly in his chair.

"Are you thinking of leaving?" she sat back taking in the office and trying to imagine it without him, his bugs...and the huge bass fish cork board with all the cases that were still unsolved tacked onto it.

"Sara and I are thinking of the future...possibly having a child or two" he saw her smile and waited for her response.

"Ya know, of all the things you could have told me, I just didn't picture you as wanting kids!" the statement slipped out before she could stop it and Gil lifted his head "You do want them right?" she wondered if Sara was pushing him faster than he wanted to go but then again, it had taken him years to even pull his head out of the proverbial microscope.

"Yes Catherine, well...at first I thought I might be too old...but the more we discuss it, the more I'm growing to like the idea of having a little larva" he winced as that slipped out..."baby" he corrected but Catherine sat up and laughed.

"Whatever you have, be fair to the kid Gil...you can't expect a child to survive to adulthood if you name it after on of your insects" she teased then sat back again and pondered the future. "It's funny ya know" he looked up waiting for her to continue. "We worked with the two of you every day and none of us saw it..." Grissom blushed. "Oh the whole lab knew that Sara had it bad for you...who wouldn't?" she tapped the pencil against her lips again "But when you slipped and said she was the only woman you ever loved...well I have to say, even I was stunned" she knew the next statement was treading into dark territory. "I always assumed that you would go after Heather" his eyes shot up and his jaw dropped "I mean, there was a time that ..." she was hesitant to open the can of worms sitting on the desk "You have to admit, you seemed pretty taken with her" Grissom nodded.

"She was intriguing Catherine, her lifestyle and how comfortable she was in her own skin" he picked up his coffee cup and took a sip from whatever liquid it held. "I never slept with her" he knew that the rumors around the lab were just that, Gil Grissom had become enamored of Lady Heather and had slipped easily into her good graces and her bed but nothing was further from the truth. "She offered, I declined although we did have tea together on several occasions and as you know..." he swallowed "I nearly screwed everything up last time" he wasn't going to rehash the incident of being caught in her house. "Sara gave me hell over that and I honestly thought I'd used up my last chance to stay in her good graces." he saw something in Catherine's eyes that unsettled him. "What is it Catherine?" he felt the hairs on his neck rising.

"I may have said some things...about Heather...to Sara"...she was dragging her feet on this one and knew by the look in his eyes that this wasn't going to go easy. "When we worked her case...I made some...some" her head hung down in embarrassment. "I made comments based on gossip that had been going around the lab for years., it wasn't very professional of me" she admitted without raising her head but her shoulders shook slightly and Gil knew she was near tears.

"What is it you said to Sara?" he had to know. Sara never mentioned it but this could certainly explain her attitude to the entire Heather problem. "Catherine, I need to know EVERYTHING you said to Sara!" his voice held little question that she wouldn't be able to tip toe through this or avoid it altogether.

"I said she was beautiful...which she is" Catherine wondered if she'd have to explain every statement. "I said she could beat you at mind chess and that she was who she was and you after all were a scientist" she swallowed and dared a glance at him. He sat like a stone, not blinking, no facial expression to give away his thoughts, only sitting there waiting for Catherine to continue. "I said that you would never tell me, well until today that is...but I thought that you had slept with her" she heard him groan "I didn't know Gil!" she threw her hands up.

"That's right Catherine, you didn't know!" his voice boomed and he sat foreword, hands on the desk. "What else?" he chewed his bottom lip in the manner Catherine knew meant he would be getting ready to check his pulse very soon.

"I made a comment about ..._who wore the chaps_" she tried to mumble over the last part but the wide eyed expression that was evident on his face knew she'd crossed the line.

"And how did Sara take this?" He knew, without having to ask just how she took it, hell he'd been on the receiving line of

Sara's tirade when she'd returned home after working the case with Catherine. Well truth be told, it wasn't a tirade at all, it was more like 'Here's your pillows, enjoy the sofa and I'm not ready to talk to you quite yet!' kind of thing.

"She changed the subject, collected evidence and acted more professional than I did." Catherine's voice was full of admiration for how Sara had handled both herself and the situation.

Gil didn't know what else to say, Catherine had once again disappointed him with her apparent disregard for Sara's feelings and it was obvious to anyone with half a brain, Sara and Heather were like oil and water. Gil was willing to take some responsibility in the fact that for a long time, Sara had been just as much in the dark as the rest of the team as to the true nature of his relationship with one Heather Kessler.

Catherine wasn't done with her confession. "I also made a comment………" she began and once more Gil took in a breath and prepared for the worst. "Along the lines of more power to you for choosing someone outside of work because once you start fishing from the company pier……you're just asking for trouble!" she swallowed hard and tried her best not to make direct eye contact with him. She heard him groan.

"Is there anything else Catherine?" his voice was filled with exasperation. Catherine shook her head and shrugged.

"If we'd known, if I had known, about you and Sara or at the very least, the truth about you and Heather……" she knew she was making excuse and he wasn't about to let her get away with it.

"Neither situation was anyone's business but my own……..and Sara's" he quickly stood, up, finished his coffee and walked away without even saying another word to Catherine.

Now press that little button at the bottom and make me write faster...Thank you everyone...


	12. Chapter 12

Sara was seated along side Greg and Nicky at the layout table. She couldn't help but look at it now and imagine the various other uses it apparently had gotten and at first she was hesitant to even put her sleeved arms on it until Greg whispered in her ear.

"Don't worry Sara, I used the strongest disinfectant I could find." he smiled and shouldered her gently. "So how's it going...with you and the big guy?" he was still a little leery of bringing up their relationship within the confines of the lab but it was getting easier. "You know...you broke my heart in a gazillion little pieces when I found out..." he was smiling and made Sara laugh in response.

"Well Greg, if it doesn't work out" she laughed "I'll keep your number in my little black book" she sat back and leaned toward Nick. "So Nicky, how's it going with you...you've been awfully quiet?" he'd only nodded when she entered and she felt that somehow he was keeping his distance from her.

"I got stuck with another trick roll" he smiled half heartedly, "She asked for me, a friend of Kristi Hopkins" he knew Sara recognized the name when she touched his forearm. "They must have my number memorized" he rolled his eyes. "Nice girl, but guilty as sin" he smiled warmly. "They just never seem to learn that eventually they all get caught and now she's got a record. Must have thought by throwing my name around she'd get a break" he remembered the trouble he had when Kristi turned up dead and his fingerprints and DNA were found on the scene by none other than Conrad Ecklie.

"Hey!" Grissom poked his head around the door. "I was just going to see if you were ready to hit the road?" he looked around at the other two men in the room "Greg, Nick good to see you, how's it going?" he entered slowly and shrugged in confusion at the lack of enthusiasm from Nick.

"Trick roll" Greg and Sara answered at the same time. Gil nodded in acknowledgment. "Those suck" he tried to motion for Sara that he was himself ready to leave when Conrad came around the corner and everyone in the room sighed.

"Grissom, could I see you in my office for a few minutes?" he leaned against the door frame, "I know you're not technically on the clock these next two weeks but I just need a moment of your time...please?" he moved out of the door and continued down the hall toward his sanctuary.

"I'll only be a minute sweetheart" he leaned over and kissed her cheek before turning to follow the older man "Nick, Greg it was good to see you again...and Nick, cheer up...when I'm back, the next 10 trick rolls will be Greg's" he teased lightly.

Conrad was sitting behind his desk when Gil walked up to the door and knocked. "You wanted to see me?" he stood just inside the door and waited.

"Gil, have a seat" Conrad stood, for once, showing decent manners and only sat back down when Gil walked around and took the chair in front of his desk. "How's Sara doing?" he saw Grissom swallow and he held up his hand "Yeah, I probably should have asked her myself but as you know, we're not always on the best of terms." he admitted freely.

"She's doing okay...actually she's doing better than I thought at this point" he sat back in the chair wondering where this was all going but willing to let it pace itself out.

"You've offered her the resources of the lab if she requires and...assistance in getting over the kidnapping" he didn't want to prejudge whether she actually needed counseling but it was a requirement that the higher ups offered it if need be.

Not wanting to divulge to much information, Grissom simply nodded and tented his fingers against his chin. "She's been in contact with her PEAP counselor and she's aware of the departments various agencies." was all he was willing to offer. "So you wanted to see me about...?" he outstretched his palms and waited.

"I've had time to think about...everything since...well since the kidnapping and your...your relationship with Sid...Sara came out" he was finding this a difficult subject at best but knew he had to say what was on his mind. "I don't..."

"You don't approve!" Gil stated plain and simple "But that's not really a concern of mine, ours, Conrad, we're together and that's not about to change" he sat straighter in the chair. "In fact, I just asked Sara to marry me yesterday..." he grinned widely at the same time wondering if Sara would approve of him blabbing this to Ecklie.

"I take it she said yes" he knew, by the fact that Gil was smiling like he was. "Congratulations...I do mean it..." he sat forward. "I know we've had our differences Gil, I'd like to get past them if not for ourselves...for the good of the lab" he saw Gil tense.

"Of course Conrad, it's always about the good of the lab isn't it?" he wasn't going to make this easy even though he had an idea where this conversation was going. "That's what took me so long to act on my feelings for Sara...the good of the lab" he fidgeted slightly.

"What changed your mind?" Conrad really wanted to know what would make someone as dedicated to his career as Grissom had been so suddenly do a complete about face.

"Actually Conrad, you did..." he knew eventually he'd have to lay this card on the table. "So I guess I should thank you for making me pull my head out of my ass" he laughed and Conrad gave him a strange look. "See, when you made it your personal goal to go after me and break up the team, I realized that I didn't want to be like you. I didn't want this" his hand waved around the room "to be the be all end all of my life" he cleared his throat. "I got tired of waking up in a king size bed with pillows for my companion and I knew that if I left the lab, it would continue on and so would I." he was offering everything at this point. "When Nick was kidnapped, I came the the realization that it could have very well been any one of us..."

"Including Sara!" Conrad was finally getting the picture.

"Including Sara and that scared the hell out of me." he straightened up in his seat. "I knew after they took Nick to the hospital that I couldn't continue to push her away because I wanted her, I've wanted her for many years, but Nick's abduction opened my eyes to the fact that what's in front of us today could be gone tomorrow. I didn't want to waste another minute...time was, is too precious to me...us" he knew that Sara understood that more than anyone. It was something both she and Nick shared.

"But you told me you'd been intimate for 9 years...?" Conrad was a little confused by the time line.

"She was a student of mine at a seminar I taught in San Francisco years ago when she was a CSI with SFPD..." he wasn't going to elaborate on any more than that. Conrad must have known it and spared him anymore need to go into detail.

"She said it had only been two years" he wondered out loud.

"We got together, in the relationship that we now have the night we found Nicky" was all he was willing to say. Conrad knew by his body language that he had all the answer he was going to get and so he pulled out a file that had been under papers on his desk.

"Well, anyway..." he opened the jacket "I have gone over the solve rates of all of our shifts, I know that Grave has the highest and you and Sara are a good team" Gil nodded a silent thanks "So...I don't see how moving her or you to Swing would benefit the lab" he threw that out there so Gil would realize that once again... that he was simply acting for the good of the lab. "So Grave will stay the same as it has, Willows will be her supervisor and your co-supervisor with the rest of the staff." he penciled something on the paper. "You and Sara have the next two weeks off...paid...of course" he didn't look up "I've talked to Catherine and she's agreeable to all of this as well." Not that it mattered but Gil wasn't ready to forgive Catherine just yet, not until he talked to Sara.

"Why thank you Conrad" he waited to see if Ecklie had any more to add, when it became apparent that he didn't, Gil stood and stretched. "Well I guess I should go find Sara, we have a lot to do in the next two weeks" he turned toward Ecklie. "Do you want to tell Sara yourself or should I?" he already knew the answer but had to make the amiable offer.

"No, you can tell her...I think I'm the last person she wants to see right now...but please, offer her my congratulations on the upcoming wedding.." he wondered if the two would have a conventional wedding or simply slip off to one of the many chapels that were in the downtown area. Gil nodded then left.

He found Sara talking to Wendy and Mandy. All three were laughing up a storm and he stood silently outside of trace and watched. She seemed so relaxed now. So much more at ease that they were openly together and he felt it himself. He berated himself once again for taking so much time to realize what was in front of him. He looked up and saw Sara showing the two women her engagement ring and he was thrilled that she actually decided to wear it. Sara had not seemed like the type that would want a ring but being old fashioned, Gil decided that he wanted to see if he got it, she'd wear it. It was his statement to the world that not only had he finally opened his eyes, but that in some way Sara was now a 'claimed' woman. His woman. Then he remembered what she had said about being someone's property and he once again berated himself.

Sara looked up and saw the strangest look on Grissom's face as he stood in the corridor but since he wasn't looking at her, she couldn't place it. "Well ladies, my man is waiting" she motioned to the man standing outside the window "I have to run but we'll catch up later...and don't forget, you're both invited" she hugged them and walked out the door. "Hey there...why the sour puss?" she teased him and he looked up.

"Oh...Sara...I was just thinking" he put his arm around her and felt her lean into his side. God if felt wonderful.

"About?" she hoped he would open up to her.

"What did they think of your ring?" he lifted her hand and admired how the stones and the band seemed to compliment her fine bones.

"They said I was one lucky Girl" she slipped her arm through his and leaned near his ear "I think they're jealous though...cause I got myself the best catch in the world." he smiled but didn't reply. "Okay...what's going on?" she wondered if he had gotten into it with Conrad.

"Well, Conrad told me what we already knew, we're both staying on Grave, we're off the next two weeks...and" he wondered if she'd be upset with his next statement "He congratulated us on our engagement..." he held his breath.

"You told him?" she seemed surprised but not really upset. "I bet that went over like a lead balloon" she continued walking with him. "So what did he say?"

"He asked me about our difference in when we started...ya know..." he smiled warmly and led her out the door to the parking lot. "I didn't go into detail, only told him you were my student many years ago..." he led them to their vehicle then opened her door. "He told me to tell you congratulations...he seemed...almost human." He turned her around to face him and pulled her into a kiss. "And I happened to have gotten the best catch Sara...I'm the lucky one" he broke apart and went around to the driver's side of the SUV.


	13. Chapter 13

They'd been driving about 20 minutes with the radio as always tuned to a classic music channel. Gil reached over and punched the button turning it off which took Sara by surprise. He usually always listened to music whenever he drove.

"Something on your mind?" she looked tentatively toward him as he sat back and took in a deep breath.

"What was the last case you and Catherine worked on?" he knew but he wanted her to tell him.

"Well" she hesitated as she thought back "I believe it was...the Kessler case" she swallowed slowly and wondered where this conversation was going. "Why?" she lobbed the ball back in his court.

"Did Catherine say anything to you about Heather?" his eyes remained on the road, hidden behind his usual pair of black sunglasses but Sara, ever able to read his body language now could tell from the set of his jaw that he knew something.

"It was nothing...important" her voice dropped at the tail end of her answer and he turned toward her. Reaching for her hand that sat on the console between them, he intertwined his fingers with hers and held fast.

"I have not then, nor ever slept with Heather Kessler" the words were said slowly, emphatically and with a sureness that immediately lightened Sara's heart. "Nor have I ever slept with Terri Miller" he continued to play with her fingers waiting for her response.

"I didn't..." she started to explain but Gil cut her off.

"You did...you've had questions for me for a long time Sara" he slowed the car and pulled over to the side of the road then cut off the ignition. "You heard rumors around the lab that I was having an affair with Heather" she nodded slowly not wanting him to think she believed everything she heard. "And I know that things were said about Terri Miller but I really screwed up when I invited Sophia to dinner" he knew the time had come to get all of this out in the open. "I never slept with Sophia either..." Sara's mouth opened and closed quickly "I invited her out because she was leaving...I never meant to hurt you...you know that right?" he hesitatingly looked over at her and removed his sunglasses. His eyes were filled with unshed tears.

"Why are you telling me this Gil?" she wondered what had changed his mood from the time he'd entered the lab till he'd left. When she first noticed that he seemed tense. "Did something happen?" she just about held her breath.

"Catherine happened" he sounded very upset with those two simple words. "She opened her mouth and she had absolutely no right!" his tone told Sara that once again, the person he thought of as his friend had let him down and this time, she'd done it by spreading rumors and it wasn't so much that she'd done it, it was to whom she'd shared those rumors with...his Sara.

"She didn't know Gil" she tried to soften the blow of having him feel betrayed. "She thought she was being funny or...sharing some 'girlfriend' gossip..." she knew that when the subject had come up, she'd been less than thrilled and had herself made several attempts to get Catherine to stop short of yelling 'Shut up, he's with me and not Heather...' but she'd refrained, acted like the adult that day and continued on with her evidence collection.

"She knew better she's a supervisor for Christ sake she had absolutely no right spreading gossip about anyone let alone me...and does she really think that ...does she think so little of me? Sara, she knew my feelings for you...long before I wanted to admit them to myself...why would she want to hurt you like that?...or me?" he looked utterly lost and Sara could not give him the answer he sought.

"Perhaps she thought I knew the answer?" was the best that Sara could give. She'd been hurt when Catherine went off on her spiel but she knew if she had responded, at least the way she wanted to, Catherine would have known that she and Gil were together and they'd agreed up to that point to keep their relationship out of the lab.

"I have forgiven her for a lot of things Sara, the bullshit with Sam Braun and her illegal use of his DNA which as you know got his murder conviction tossed out of court. The comments she's made about being my right...and my left hand when I was running everything myself" the look on his face was something that showed how deeply she'd hurt him. "I even tried to forgive her for trying to have you fired...which I'm sorry about...more sorry than you know" he closed his eyes and only opened them because Sara lightly caressed his cheek. "Chalk?"..." he teased lightly and she knew his blood pressure was coming down. "She's lost crucial pictures on a case that showed up on television, making our lab look bad but I get hung out to dry because a fingerprint on a matchbook cover shows up years later through no fault of my own...and our team gets split which of course was blamed on my lack of leadership and management abilities..." it was the first time that Gil ever unloaded so much and Sara simply sat back and let him talk knowing it was long overdue.

"Have you told her any of this?" Sara's voice was low and even. He shook his head no and looked very sullen.

"I protected her, over and over again I covered for her..." his eyes betrayed the emotions he was trying desperately to hold in check. "She sat there telling me everything she told you about Heather...and all I could think was how many times I put my own ass on the line for her...and in turn she spreads gossip about something she really has no proof of...and she does it in front of you...!"

Sara wanted to take away his pain but knew it was a long time building. She'd often wondered how it was that Catherine seemed to skate over everything that she did wrong yet held everyone else to higher standards. She of course was the first to point out a person's shortcomings yet seemed to miss the very visible ones of her own. Sara wasn't about to press that issue right now., Gil had enough on his plate and she was willing to forgive Catherine if Gil was.

"Maybe you should talk this out with her?" she placed her hand on his forearm "Get it off your chest and then start fresh." she didn't want this hanging over either of them any longer than absolutely necessary. "Catherine needs to realize that she has to be held accountable just like the rest of us, like you...being management, she's supposed to be held to higher standards., Lord knows she holds you to them..." he nodded in agreement.


	14. Chapter 14

They drove home the rest of the way in silence. Gil was chewing on what Sara had told him and it amazed him how forgiving she could be when he simply wanted to rip Catherine's head off right now. It simply sat wrong with them that she would basically turn on him when in the past he'd overlooked so much more for her than any other team member. He remembered her sitting along side Ecklie and having the audacity to question what disciplinary action he was planning on taking against Sara. He recalled the blank stare he got when his answer was that he'd already addressed the issue and wasn't planning on firing her. All that time, sitting in judgment of Sara, she apparently saw herself as untouchable.

"Gil...call her, get it out in the open and be done with it., you have to work with her every day and I don't want this to come between you." Sara spoke with an honesty and sincerity that actually hurt him when he thought about how he'd always trusted Catherine yet kept Sara at arms length. He'd always been suspicious of her 'true meanings' whenever she would say something to him, always wondering if she was seeing the 'real Gil Grissom' when he thought her feelings were merely a crush.

"I'm sorry Sara, honestly I am...for all the times I hurt you" his voice wavered "for all the times I pushed you away" he turned to her as he parked the SUV in their garage. "I don't know what to say to Catherine. Right now, I'm so damned angry at her!" his voice raised slightly and again, Sara let him vent. "I just...I feel..." he couldn't think of anything that could justify her actions.

"Gil...Gilbert Grissom, she's been your friend for how many years?" he looked stunned by her tone. "You have to decide, if you want to keep her as your friend, then you both need to seriously sit and discuss this., by yourselves, without me there, without the team!" he knew she was right but his pride didn't want to let go that easily.

"And if I don't want to...?" He seemed genuinely puzzled.

"You wouldn't be able to work with her again nor would I" she opened her door and slipped out "And once again, Ecklie would have a reason to break up our team" she waited by the front of the vehicle then linked hands with him as they walked to the door.

"When did you get so old and wise?" he turned her gently toward him and kissed her passionately.

"When I fell in love with you!" She mumbled against his lips..."And neither of us are old buddy!" she slapped him then turned to go into the door.

Gil asked Sara if she minded him spending some time alone in his office. She assured him that between preparing dinner and walking Bruno, she's have plenty to occupy her time over the next few hours. She prepped the food in the kitchen then stood in the doorway with Bruno's leash clipped to his collar.

"I'm going to head over to the dog park, maybe he'll finally learn to play nice with that new Poodle they brought over last time…I think he has eyes for her.." Sara teased.

Grissom got up and came over to kiss her and pat Bruno's tri-colored head "My boy…..he's growing up before my very eyes….." he laughed "Maybe this time he can keep his nose away from Miss Pugsley's ass and avoid stitches" they both remembered the bite he got for putting his nose where it didn't belong. "Try to control him, he's just a lusty little man…." he was given a final pat and Sara another peck before the left.

Sara hoped that Grissom would call Catherine while she was out.

Gil picked up his cell phone and immediately dialed "Willows!" her voice was filled with confidence and Gil was sure she hadn't checked the display to see who was calling her.

"Catherine, it's Grissom" he never addressed himself that way when dialing her phone. "I need to meet with you before shift, there are some things I feel we need to discuss." he heard her take a breath in.

"I promised Lindsey I would drive her to the mall, I'm sorry Gil but I can't make it before…..shift and besides, you're not on for another week and a half." she was trying to buy time.

"I'm making an exception." his voice told her he wasn't going to leave it go. "I'll see you in my office when shift starts., you can help with paperwork while we talk!" and with that he hung up leaving her standing in her living room with her mouth agape.

Sara returned an hour later, Bruno looked happy as a pig in shit and Gil wondered what had happened. "Did he cause you anymore problems?" He went about refilling the dog dishes that were kept beside the island in their kitchen.

"No, in fact he was quite the little stud, puffing out his chest, looking over every female that crossed his path, I think he broke the poodles' heart though, he was playing with her but when a certain female boxer showed up…..he was smitten…." she went into the kitchen to wash her hands after having hung his leash in the pantry door.

"Hey, he's just like his daddy, he knows when something better comes along…" he reached out and grabbed Sara's arm pulling her into a torrid kiss "I missed you while you were gone." he hugged her tightly.

"Did you call Catherine?" she hesitated before asking and felt him immediately stiffen.

"I did, I think she knows something is up and was stalling for time, told her I would see her tonight before shift, she could help me with some paperwork while we talk" he looked up at Sara "I won't be long but since she wants to avoid having this conversation outside the lab…..then she's going to have it inside my office…."

Sara nodded, slipped from his arms and went about preparing dinner for them both. Afterwards, when everything had been cleaned up., they both slipped into the bedroom and curled up against each other. Sara kissed him just under his chin.

"What's that for…..?" he wasn't complaining, just couldn't figure out why Sara had a thing for his neck.

"Because I find that area particularly sexy….do you mind?" he shook his head no…"Good, I mean, I find the entire Gil Grissom package…." her eyebrows shot up "pretty damned sexy…but for some reason, I just get off kissing you….right here" she pointed "right under your chin, I love your neck, can't help it…" she did it again and Gil groaned.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Omg I feel like I'm at the oscars making an acceptance speech. Thank you everyone for all the reviews and the huge push to continue this story. As we know, things in 'fiction land' don't always follow the story, as you'll see, sometimes we decide we need more than those writers show us. You all asked for the 'fight between Catherine and Grissom" I hope I did them justice. Thanks again everyone, I love you all for your kind words and encouragement.

Disclaimer: If I owned them...this is what we'd see...

Catherine couldn't help feeling on her 20 minute commute to work that something out of the ordinary was going to take place tonight. Gil had walked away quite pissed off at her after their conversation about Heather and hadn't spoken to her since then until she received the phone call telling her they were going to spend the evening going over paperwork in his office. He didn't give her any options, just told her where he expected her and then hung up. She was suddenly feeling quite unsettled.

Gil came out of the bathroom, black shirt and slacks, sleeves rolled up just below his elbows. "I promise, I won't take longer then absolutely necessary" he smiled as Sara reclined on the bed reading the latest forensic journal. "I hate leaving you here but this does have to be settled and..." Sara rolled over and looked at him as he sat down beside her.

"I know...just remember, they were words Gil, they can't hurt me...I have what I've always wanted, always dreamed of" she leaned into him and kissed him lightly. "Hurry home, I'll be waiting..." she patted the bed beside her.

"Keep my spot warm..." he kissed her again then dragged himself away knowing if he didn't, he'd wind up being late for his meeting with Catherine. On his way out, he patted the dog and told him "Bruno you take good care of Mommy while Daddy's away...go to bed with Mommy" he pointed and the big Boxer immediately headed into their room and begged Sara to let him on the bed. Of course, she offered him Gil's side of the bed. Sara heard the door close and smiled to herself. Grissom had easily slipped into referring to himself as Bruno's Daddy and she as Mommy and it sounded so comfortable that it often times made her imagine themselves as parents of a real child. She had not doubt he would be a great father but she couldn't help the nagging fear about her own abilities.

Gil parked in his usual spot outside the building, sat and gathered his thoughts. He was hurt, he couldn't deny that., hurt and disappointed in Catherine but reality set in and he realized that for a long time, he was just as much to blame for allowing her to get away with everything she did. Tonight it was going to end. Tonight he was going to set ground rules for expected behavior of a supervisor and put an end to allowing her to get away with anything else.

Catherine was seated behind his desk when he walked in. He stood against the door frame, hands shoved deep into his pockets, clenching and unclenching his fists. "You comfortable?" he motioned with his chin to his chair. She sat upright and opened her mouth to say something but must have thought better.

"Just warming it up for you...of course" she tried to lighten the mood, all the while keeping an eye on his face. She knew she would normally read his moods by his eyes but tonight, nothing was showing. "How's Sara? Did she come with you?" she looked past him but saw no one else in the hallway.

"No, I told her I'd only be here only as long as necessary..." he began as he slowly took his seat. "We need to talk Catherine." his voice held little hope that this was just a social conversation. "Could you please shut and lock the door?" he motioned her over to the doorway. Catherine got up, walked like she was on a death march to it closed then locked the door. She turned but leaned against the door for a moment.

"Gil..." he put his glasses on and slowly unfolded several sheets of papers he'd pulled out of his pocket. "I think I know what you wanted to..." his glanced up, pursed his lips and sat back in his chair. "I'd like to apologize...to both you and Sara for my behavior regarding Heather Kessler and the unkind things I said." she looked positively frightened so Gil let her speak first. "I know that I shouldn't have shot my mouth off like I..."

"Why did you?" He shot forward in his chair. "What sadistic pleasure did you get by not only dragging my name through the mud but by doing it in front of Sara?" his hands folded on his desk. "We seem to have a set of double standards when it comes to you and me!" he couldn't control the anger in his voice.

"Really???" she refused to move away from the door, using it for support at the moment "And what was your little overnight stay at Heather's" she shot back. "You were an alibi for a murder suspect..." she realized her mistake almost immediately.

"She was a suspect, Braun was a murder...he'd be alive today., serving time if you hadn't decided to make this your own DNA clinic!" his tone told her that this was only the beginning but to say she was stunned was an understatement.

"I apologized for that!" She raised a finger. "At least I wasn't having an affair with a subordinate!" she was aiming low and Gil was ready for her.

"What bothers you most Catherine, that you weren't the first to find out or that Sara got me and you didn't?" She couldn't respond. He hit a nerve that she'd long ago thought was buried. Years before Eddie, she'd had a huge crush on Gil but, typical of him, he;d kept his head in the microscope and didn't seem to notice how she went out of the way to try to get his attention. She knew it was a lost cause when he returned from San Francisco and all he could seem to talk about was some damned student named Sara.

"You have no right..." She felt her blood boiling.

"I have every right Catherine, I'm the Senior Supervisor here, I'd be the only one if you hadn't crawled so far up Ecklie's ass that you can't see daylight!" he reached for his wrist knowing right now his blood pressure was escalating.

"I got hung out to dry because of some evidence that came about years after a case was closed, Something that no one could have possibly foreseen at the time. A fingerprint on a matchbook that I had nothing to do with shows up, I get dragged under the microscope, my ability to question the team is brought before a review board the team gets split up and the ONLY one that stuck for me was Sophia who in the process wound up getting demoted. Did you stick for me?...No!...not my "co-supervisor/partner" his fingers mimicked quotation marks in the air. "You were too busy worrying about which office was yours!"

"Is that what you're jealous of Gil? That I can play politics and you can't?" she leaned heavily on the desk right in his face.

"Playing politics is one thing, kissing ass is another!" he sat back and lifted his coffee mug only to realize it was empty. "You tried damned hard to get Ecklie to fire Sara, it wasn't because of her solve rate..."

"It was because she treated me like shit., she was insubordinate..."She hadn't figured that Gil would try to get it all out in the open but now that he'd decided to attack the proverbial 'elephant in the room' she was all in. 'She's always been that way and you turned a blind eye to it!" she wrapped her arms protectively across her chest and paced the room.

"Oh think again Miss Willows" that hurt, that he addressed her by her last time for the first time in all the years they'd known each other. "There have been some blind eyes alright but it would seem they've been that way with you for far too long." he was tired, everything that had been building to this came crashing down. "You use DNA for your own personal use and nothings done about it! You blow up the lab...nothing! You treat your co-workers like shit..."

"I never!" she hissed, sounding more like a threatened alley cat then a profession.

"What the hell would you call what you did with Michael Keppler and that entire Reverse Forensic episode?" She was caught off guard at the mere mention of Keppler. "You treated your team like they were first year CSI's, you lied to them, you used them and when they caught on...you pulled out the "As your supervisor I'm ordering you to drop this case!" card. The people in this lab have to trust each other...you managed to destroy that in one single month with someone you barely knew!" she dropped to the sofa and buried her head in her hands. The fight was gone from her. She sobbed uncontrollably and Gil simply sat there with a blank look on his face.

He thought he'd feel better after getting all of this off his chest but instead, he realized that a friendship that had been one of the things he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he could always trust...suddenly didn't seem that way anymore.

"I'm sorry Gil..." she swallowed hard "I'm so sorry...I let you down, I let the entire team down...have I become...? My...Father?" she was bawling now, uncontrollable sobs racked her body and Grissom came to sit down beside her.

"We're supposed to be the head of the second best lab in the country, we can't do that if we can't trust each other" he put his arm around her. "You're not your father Catherine but you need to figure out what you want from you life" he leaned against him.

"I thought I wanted you"...she mumbled against him "Then you brought her...Sara in and I knew I never stood a chance, you were always talking about how you called her and emailed her and the latest journals you'd discussed late into the evening and all the while my marriage was crumbling around me and I wanted to reach out and tell you how I felt...but I knew it probably wouldn't matter and..." She took the tissue he offered. "What do we do now Gil?" she looked up at him, mascara running down both cheeks

"I don't know...Cath, I honestly don't know!" he sat back "We can't continue this way..." he sighed. "After the team was broken up, I seriously questioned my ability to lead them...it was like Ecklie was out for blood...my blood, and for the first time in my life, I doubted myself., I guess I always thought that the one person, besides Sara that I could count on no matter what was you..." he knew she was still raw but this had to be settled here and now.

"I let you down...you, Sara..." she sniffled "the whole team...I even let Keppler down" she'd developed some deep feelings for him, even though he'd only been with the team for less than an entire month. "He died protecting me..." she whispered "he took a bullet for me and he barely even knew me..." Grissom listened carefully before saying more.

"Your team would have taken that bullet Cath, any one of us...but in exchange, a team has to know that its leaders would do the same" he tried to soften his words. "You have to look in the mirror and say, I run a team that I know would die for me...would I do the same for them?" and when you can do that, and put your head on your pillow at night knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that you've done everything you possibly could..." he didn't finish but he didn't need to., Catherine was smart enough to know, if the situation called for it, that was a sacrifice that Grissom would make...

"I suck as a supervisor" she nearly choked on her sudden admission.

"I suck at politics" He smiled back at her. "We make quite a pair don't we?" he again wrapped his arm around her. "You once told me that the people around me were making a family whether I liked it or not." he sat back, Catherine close by his side. "I'd like to believe that as a family we can get through this and move ahead. She looked up into his eyes with a new found admiration.

"I'd like that to...but I owe you, Sara and the team some apologies." she wiped at her eyes with the tissues she had balled in her fist. "I promise, I'll make you proud of me once again Gil." she smiled.

"As long as you're proud of yourself Catherine, the rest will fall in line..."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I realized when rereading my story that I had Grissom leaving after their little fight, getting into trouble with Brass for showing up at the Lab and then he and Sara were back together coming to the lab...omg, I missed an entire chapter because my head was swelling with the awesome reviews...so, consider this Chapter 9 ¼ - 1/2 because, there was some memories and some happenings between his return home and their trip back to the lab..."first the memories"  
Enjoy!!!!!

Brass walked Gil outside "You know, I only have the best intentions for both of you don't you?" Grissom wasn't so sure as he rubbed the red marks left by the Detectives' handcuffs. "Didn't mean to strong arm you there but sometimes you need a wake up call."

"You know, you always assume it's me!" Grissom knew exactly why...but it felt good to whine once in awhile, especially when he knew it would lighten the mood further between the two of them.

"Because someone has to keep you from sliding back down the microscope..." he patted his friend on the shoulder "And I did threaten you with bodily harm in the event you hurt her again" he waited for Gil to open his car door and turned to leave. "Give her my love..." he slapped the hood of the vehicle before turning to his own. Gil rolled down the windows and turned on the radio listening to the classical music he so loved, then began his drive home.

Sara had taken a shower and slipped into the nothing but the Hawaiian shirt that Gil had discarded, placing his hat on her head, she'd decided to sit outside on the back deck and get a little sun while waiting for him to come home. Bruno was stretched out on the little lawn they had softly snoring with an occasional whimper making her wonder if dogs dream.

She thought about how much her life had changed over the last two years and remembered like it was yesterday the night that had changed them forever.

Nicky had been found, the ambulance had stabilized him and along with Catherine and Warrick riding shotgun, had sped off into the night leaving her and Grissom along with Greg, Brass and Conrad Ecklie standing in the dust brought up by the churning tires. She heard him speak in a voice that bordered on both pleading and an underlying, '_I'm asking but not really'_..."I want my guys back!" slipped from Grissom's mouth in a low tone that even she wasn't totally sure she heard. All she saw was Ecklie nodding his head, hands jammed in his pockets.

She and Greg had spent the next two hours gathering as much evidence as possible considering the fact that not only was the site damaged from the explosion but from the heavy machinery that had been used in saving Nick's life. As she headed back to her SUV, she noticed that someone was already seated in the front seat. In the shadows she was just able to make out, with surprise that Grissom had not left the scene as immediately thought but was in fact the person seated inside.

"Hey!" she opened the drivers door after loading up the back and closing the hatch. "Thought you went to the hospital?" she slipped inside and reached to start the ignition but was stopped by his hand wrapping around her wrist.

"Don't...not yet" he turned slowly to her and she saw his eyes, they were wet and swollen from crying. She sucked in her breath knowing how tense the last day had been for all of them. She was taken back by the fact that he wasn't trying to hide the fact that he'd been in tears.

"You okay?" she was genuinely concerned when he hadn't released her wrist but instead, he pulled her hand toward him, clasping it tightly against his own and intertwined their fingers. "Gris you're scaring me.." she made no attempt at pulling back but she found herself holding her breath.

"Am I?" his voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm scared too Sara" the look he gave her would have melted the coldest heart. "I've never been so scared in my life as I was ... I thought we lost him..." the tears began again but he didn't move to wipe them away. "I'm scared that he won't survive this...mentally, I'm scared that I'm too late..." he held tight to her hand but turned his head to look out his window.

"You aren't too late, we found him...Nicky's alive...He's..."

Gil's head turned slowly in her direction. "I'm...scared...that...I'm...too...late...forus..." the last two words were muddled together. His thumb flicked back and forth over her wrist as he held tight. "I keep thinking...it could have been you" he brought her hand up to his lips and pressed it firmly there. "I close my eyes and it's not Nick I see, it's you...and when I get to the box, it's too late...it's too late just like you said, you told me I'd be too late and when I see it...I am" his eyes clinched tight, he continued to press her hand to his mouth. "Am I too late? Am I?" he was afraid to open his eyes and see the disappointment written on her face. At that moment, he reminded her of a little boy, making his Christmas wish known and hoping, face scrunched up, eyes tightly closed that when he opened them, Santa would have come through.

"Grissom" she let the name slide through her lips like a long breeze "Grissom look at me" she tried to free her hand but he held fast. "Please...look at me, open your eyes and look at me" she waited patiently while he forced himself to do as she instructed. Shaking her head, the corners of her lips twisted up slightly as she smiled "You could never be too late!" she felt him heave a sigh of relief and kiss her hand yet again.

"I'm so sorry Sara, for all the times you've loved me" she looked confused "All the times you tried to love me and I pushed you away..." he corrected. "I'm sorry for how I've treated you all these years., for how I pushed you away when you dated...Hank and how I wasn't there to help you when he cheated on you" her eyes shot open in surprise "office grapevine" he offered with a gentle smile.

They drove for awhile, Grissom suggested they go to his place and she silently nodded then automatically turned the vehicle in the direction she needed to go. He looked at her with a sense of awe and surprise.

"Been past a few times." she shrugged shyly then continued maneuvering the vehicle down the side streets to his town home. "What can I say, wanted to make sure you got home okay!" she was hoping he wouldn't change his mind so she shut up and kept driving. When they arrived, Grissom motioned her to park in his driveway and waited for her to kill the engine.

"You'll come in?" was his simple invitation before he exited the passenger side and waited on his side for her to get out and come around. He extended his hand and she quietly slid hers into his much bigger one. "I'm glad you're here Sara" he stated matter of fact then led her up the six stairs, and to his front door where he released her hand and suddenly fumbled with his jacket trying to find his house key. "Sorry, I guess I should have had it out by now" he bashfully smiled up at her. Finding it, he held the little key like he'd just discovered the greatest treasure and Sara gave him one of her mega watt smiles.

"Grissom..." she followed him inside only to have him spin her around, slam the door shut and push her against the hardened wood. "What are you doing?" she wanted him to have the chance to change his mind because she was sure that if he thought about what he was doing...well, he wouldn't.

"Something I should have done years ago" his mouth descended on hers, his lips trailed lightly over her own then his tongue teased its way into her mouth. Sara didn't resist at first but simply put her one hand against his chest and the other worked its way up to the base of his neck.

"Are you sure?" she muttered between kisses "Cause if you're not...if you're going to change your mind...God...Grissom...please do it now before you do something you regret" he kissed her again and again "Please don't let this be a dream..." her words were muffled by his lips as they covered every inch of her face. He tasted her eyelids, the tip of her nose, each cheek, her chin moving to her jawline...then down her long sumptuous neck. "If you're going to regret..." his mouth swallowed her words as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

"The only regret I have Sara is that I didn't do this sooooo many years ago" and he kissed her again this time with so much passion that there was little doubt that Grissom wasn't going to change his mind anytime soon.

"Bedroom?" she whispered between intense games of tonsil hockey...he nodded then started walking her backwards as he continued to lavish kisses on every inch of bare skin. When his lips found their path impeded by clothing, his hands quickly remedied that and removed said object. Her blouse was lost somewhere roughly 5 feet from the front door, her bra maybe a good 20 feet later. His belt was gone before they made the turn down his hallway. His shoes and hers shot off their feet like miniature rockets and socks were left in their wake. She was down to her panties by the time they reached his bedroom door and his shirt had been tossed aside and was now laying in the doorway of his spare bedroom across the hall. By the time they got to the bed, both were clad on only bottoms, his being his boxers, hers being her panties. Grissom stood in awe of her beauty as he backed up and took in the sight before him.

"God Sara, you're beautiful..."his eyes were wide and bluer than she ever remembered.

"Since when have you ever been interested in beauty?" she teased back as she stared at the flat planes of his smooth hairless chest, his stomach, the bulge just underneath the cotton material of his boxers.

"Since I met you" he closed the distance between them and gently laid her onto the inviting king sized bed. "Since I met you, and fell in love with you..." he kissed her sweetly as he lowered himself on top of her.

Their lives had not been the same since.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Now onto the happenings...evilly laughing...

Grissom pulled up to their town house and opened the garage door before pulling inside. He was glad to see that Sara's vehicle was still parked inside. He had stopped again to pick up a bouquet of roses and a card before getting there and as he walked into the house, he laid both on the side table just inside the door as he toed off his shoes lining them up next to Sara's. He knew she as well as he were sticklers for order and after having left his shoes tossed carelessly by the door one to many times, she'd asked him nicely to straighten them and he'd done so ever since.

The living room was empty, the lights off because it was still sunny outside. The kitchen was neat and clean but empty as well. He turned down the hallway and made his way to the bedroom expecting to find her curled on the bed but as he opened the door, the bed stood there reminding him of what he once used to come home to. It was made, pillows stacked just the way they both liked them but still no Sara. She wasn't in the bathroom or the guest bedroom and Bruno had not come to meet him so he finally went to check out back. Making his way through the kitchen to the sliding glass doors, he was her outside on the chaise lounge apparently asleep, Bruno was sitting just outside the door panting and asking to be let in.

What amazed him was that Sara was wearing not only his Hawaiian shirt, but the hat she claimed to hate and had called ugly. Quietly he opened the door, switched places with the dog how eagerly ran to his water dish and slopped the cool liquid everywhere. He moved beside her and noticed that she was breathing deeply and appeared to be relaxed and deeply in slumber.

As he stood over her, legs splayed so that he could sit down on the chair facing her., his breath was stolen from his chest by the fact that it appeared that Sara had nothing on under her two items of clothing. His jaw dropped as he spied the pink nipple peaking every so slightly from the collar of his shirt which was obviously too big on her. As she stretched, the hemline pulled up to reveal that she didn't appear to have panties on either and he felt himself starting to drool. "Saaaaaaaaaaraaaaa" her name came out in a tortured sentence instead of the one word it was...

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him from under the brim of that hat. He thought she looked cute in it. "Hey...you're back" she yawned and stretched her long limbs yet again giving him that much more of a peak beneath the shirt. "See something you like?" she opened the collar a bit more and flashed both bare breasts at him. He licked his lips and nodded then sat down in front of her planning to kiss her. She held up a hand and stopped him before their lips met. "Not before we talk..." the look on her face told him she meant it and he sat upright.

"What's there to talk about?' he questioned in a teasing tone then continued "I was an ass once again and..." she silenced him with a finger against his lips and shook her head.

"We were both responsible for today" she stated plain and simple. "I had no right calling this shirt" she pulled on the material and more of her creamy skin was revealed "ugly, it's quite comfortable" she snuggled her nose into the collar "nor should I have made fun of your hat...it does its job" she tapped the brim of the hat. "I'm sorry you felt you needed to throw them out to please me...it isn't my intention to change you..." he opened his mouth to speak but her slight shake of her head stopped him "My turn still...I pushed your buttons today in a way I shouldn't have, I acted like a child and I'm sorry" she stopped and waited for him to have his say.

"I said somethings I shouldn't have...you are not cheap, though your outfit was not ... was inappropriate...I should have realized that you were teasing me...I should not have made the Heather comment" he paused "whether I came out and said her name or not...I shouldn't have implied it. I shouldn't have left either" he thought back to his 'meeting' with Brass. He reached out to push the hat back so he could apologize while looking in her eyes then he planned to kiss her but she caught sight of the red marks on his wrists and brought his hands to where she could see them.

"What are these marks?" she looked up puzzled.

"I was going to tell you I got a little 'tied up' at work but the truth is..." she looked again and started laughing.

"Handcuffs? He actually used handcuffs on you?" she knew it could have only been Jim Brass. "You're shitting me right?" she sat there with the goofiest look on her face as she fingered the red marks. "A man after my own heart" she said without looking up.

"He has someone else's heart and he better keep his hands off mine!" he leaned in and captured her lips in a searing kiss. "I'm sorry Sara, I don't want to fight anymore...I love you so much and I'm still learning...can you forgive me?" all was muted as he continued to kiss he between words. She was till grinning like an idiot over the fact that Brass had handcuffed Grissom.

"And you let him?" she saw him looking confused "Let him handcuff you?" she filled in the blanks for him.

"He's pretty strong ya know..." he was trying to justify how Jim got the drop on him. "Besides, who the hell expects your best friend to handcuff you behind your back and then to a chair?" he'd let more slip than he intended and she didn't miss a beat.

"He handcuffed you to a chair?" she rolled slightly backwards and both breast made an appearance at the same time... "this is too much!" she was overcome with laughter and missed the look of lust and want in his eyes.

"Oh...this" his hands went to her breasts covering each in one palm "is too much" he squeezed gently causing her to stiffen and moan. "Too much for our neighbors to see..." she leaned into his hands as he gently massaged the stiffening peaks. "Besides, I brought the handcuffs home with me" he laughed, let go of his prizes and stood up offering her his hand. "Care to come and strong arm me?" she giggled then followed him inside.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Thanks to everyone that has contacted me regarding this story..you're all awesome and that's what keeps me going...I have no plans on ending soon...so be warned, my mind is running miles ahead of my fingers...but we're catching up...hope you still enjoy...

Disclaimer: yeah yeah yeah cbs, rub it in, you own them...but only on paper...the rest belongs to us...hahahahahah!

She was there when he returned home from his little meeting with Catherine. She'd set the table and was grilling him steak, something that he appreciated since he knew her aversion to touching, cooking or smelling it. He looked extremely tired and she figured she would let him enjoy his meal and then sit back and relax, perhaps catching one of the shows they'd taped on TIVO.

"Hey" she smiled warmly as he walked in and wrapped his arms around her waist. He put his head down on her shoulder and sighed. "I'm not sure how to take that?" she wondered at his quiet demeanor. "I Sara Sidle am making you steak and potatoes and a pretty salad" she looked over toward the table on the deck where she had set a beautiful place setting. "I have the wine chilling in the fridge and I even made dessert" she turned away from the sink where she'd been washing dishes, dried her hands on the towel hanging from the cabinet knob and turning slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck. "How did it go?" his eyes betrayed nothing.

"We got a lot settled today" he kissed her lightly then walked backwards toward one of the stools near the counter. "It was difficult at first, I almost thought today ended a friendship." he sounded sad as he sat down and pulled her onto his lap. "It had to be done and I'm glad you talked me into it...God Sara, I never realized how much I held inside, even worse" he kissed her "I never realized how much I let her get away with when I held you accountable for the smallest thing...I'm so sorry I didn't see it back then" he ran his hands up and down her spine and pressed a kiss to her neck.

"Let's enjoy dinner...I suffered sooooo much you know, the trek to the butcher shop, having to pick out...meat!" she scrunched up her face and stuck out her tongue..."Poor moo cow...had to die so my baby could get some protein.." she was mock pouting and he cracked up laughing.

"Maybe the cow died accidentally?" he kissed her jaw and sucked on an earlobe.

"Yeah, it accidentally walked into the cattle truck thinking what? It was going to greener pastures?" she giggled "And then accidentally got off on the wrong stop, which just happens to be a slaughter house. Think any of the other cattle would have warned it? Then you expect me to believe it walked into the bullet and said "What the hell, since I'm here...let my death not be in vain..." she was laughing so hard she nearly fell off his lap.

"If that steak tastes as good as it smells, the cow certainly did not die in vain my Dear" He pushed her off his lap and stood up "I'm a starving man..." he stretched "Now Woman., go fetch me some vittles..." he pushed her toward the sliding glass doors leading to the grill and he went for the wine in the fridge. It was such a nice feeling having someone to come home to, someone that was willing to put aside her dislike of meat and think of only him. He looked up a few minutes later and saw her standing on the deck by the gas grill. She was flipping the steak over along with various vegetables that she was grilling for herself and he wondered how it was he had gotten so lucky...whatever it was, since the day she'd been kidnapped, he remembered to thank God every morning and evening no matter what the day brought.

"Honey, your vittles is a served" she plunked the plate down on the table as he lit one of the smaller candles and poured them each a glass of wine. "I hope you are eternally grateful that your woman went out and brought home this poor little slaughtered animal..." he immediately handed her a glass of wine and moved in to kiss her.

"You will never convince me to go totally meat free my Dear..."Unless you can live on love alone...then...I will have to be content to nibble on you" he laughed then put his own wine down beside the bottle to pull out her chair. After she sat down, he leaned over and stole yet another kiss from her as well as one of her grilled peppers off her plate.

"Thief!" she pretended to slap at his hand as he brought the succulent vegetable to his mouth..."That's mine..." he slipped it between his teeth protecting his tongue from the heat and slowly and sensually nibbled the pepper.

"I'm imagining all sorts of naughty things ya know?" she batted her eyes and licked her lips with the tip of her tongue...

"Good, keep it in mind for later!" he finished the pepper, picked up his glass of wine and moved to his own seat where he proceeded to devour the tender steak as she made headway through her vegetable plate. "God..." the juices ran down his throat "This is just soooo good, you really ought to reconsider vegetarianism" he chewed thoughtfully and swallowed appreciatively of each piece. "Molly Moo did not die in vain!" his eyes rolled back in his head with delight. "This is wonderful Sara...the entire meal." she blushed with the compliments and sipped at her wine. Bruno came past the table and Grissom snuck him a small piece of grizzle that was left over.

"No wonder he begs!" she jokingly admonished him for the dog's bad behavior..."He's as bad as his father...!" she put her fork down and picked up her glass of wine...

"Excuse me my Dear? I, Gilbert Grissom do not beg...ever!" he tried hard to maintain eye contact with her, they had been in a staring contest before and lost...much like he was already doing now...

"Oh, you beg Gil, I heard you last night, and the night before...and..." she was feeling warm from either the wine or the thoughts of where this conversation was going...but it felt so good to have the light banter back. "Tonight you'll beg so bad..." her voice grew husky and deep "You'll beg because I intend to have my way with you..and you...well" she stood up and turned toward the bedroom "You won't be able to do anything but ..." she started around the corner "take it like a man" she disappeared into the kitchen and down the hall...Gil sat there, mouth dropped and wondering what just ... hell, he knew what just happened and he was not letting her get the upper hand...he quickly stood and followed the path she'd just taken.

Sara was waiting...she stood with nothing on just inside the bathroom door. Gil came in and just as quickly shucked off his clothing. It was probably the fastest he'd ever gotten undressed. "What were you saying my dear?" his voice held a hint of curiosity. She threw herself on top of him bringing them both down to the bed and before Gil Grissom knew exactly what happened, he found both of his hands, tied above his head to the headboard with two of his ties..."Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaraaaaaa!" he quivered with this unexpected turn of events...

TBC

* * *


	19. Chapter 19

Gil couldn't imagine that Sara would have ever moved that fast, been that strong or that quick tying him up. His first impulse was to fight it, ever instinct in his body told him being at the mercy of anyone was against every fiber of his being..he swallowed and fought the urge to tell her to release him...

"Ugh...Sara...????" his voice was pleading until he remembered her comment about begging., he Gil Grissom was not about to beg...if he could help it...so he lay there, eyes studying her closely as she stood back to admire her handy work. "By any chance have you worked on a cattle ranch?" he grinned as he tried to move higher on the bed to take away some of the tightness of his arms being pulled over his head.

"Noooooo..." She was shaking her head slowly...smiling in a manner that slightly rattled Grissom. "And if you continue to try to get loose, I will" she produced two more ties "Secure your legs to the bottom of the bed.." he gulped loudly at his predicament. "You will not move more than I allow, you will not touch me...you will do exactly as I say" she leaned over as he drew back a leg "I warned you" she struggled and it took some doing on her part but eventually he had him tied spread eagle on the bed. "I told you this would happen, you didn't believe me" she leaned down and kissed him taking time to lick his lips, his tongue and the roof of his mouth. "You should have listened to me" she licked his jawline and worked her way to his earlobe. Her mouth closed completely over his.

At first, he was lost in the sensation of having her lavish her attention on him...but for some reason, his mind, playing tricks on him suddenly flashed to visions of Nick trapped in that damned box. Greenish glows filled his brain, then he pictured Sara, unable to move, trapped beneath that retched Mustang...his sensory overload caused him to immediately struggle for freedom and Sara sat up with a start..."Gil? Gil are you okay?" His eyes were wild, his mouth formed words that would not come out...he simply thrashed about tightening the ties that kept him held solid. "Grissom...Grissom..." she screamed his name...Tears fell like a dam had burst as he bucked and arched in a full out attempt at freedom.

He didn't see her, he saw green lights, he saw the smashed rooftop of an overturned car, he saw sand and water coming up to swallow him, winds whipping the glass like pieces into his skin. He felt thousands of ants crawling over his skin, biting, eating him alive...he felt the panic of air being shut off, the claustrophobia of being unable to do anything but lay there and take it...and he couldn't, his heart was beating out of his chest his breath was coming in spasms...and Sara ran from the room to grab a knife and cut him free...

"Grissom, one more minute baby, one more minute" she sliced quickly through the ties on his wrists, careful not to cut him as he struggled. "Hold on Gil, one more minute and I'll have you free...hang on baby...hang on" she pleaded unsure if he was even able to hear her. "Gilbert!" she screamed as she worked loose the material around his limbs "Gil...Gil talk to me, it's Sara, you're okay...you're free...it's okay...come on baby...look at me" she straddled his waist and tried to get him to make eye contact... His eyes stayed on her for a full minute, not seeming to focus but just 'there' then he closed them, took a deep breath and she felt him shudder beneath her. "It's okay Gil...it's okay...I'm sorry., I'm sorry..." she apologized, confused at what had just happened. "Talk to me Gil...talk to me, come on...you can do it" she held his face between her hands trying to get him to focus on her face."You're scaring me..." she started to weep...

Grissom heard a voice., could it be the voice of an Angel he didn't know but it pulled him from the box, the greenish glow went away, the ants stopped biting, the car...it was gone, he could breath again., no sand, no rain...only the melodic sound of someone...something...calling his name...but he couldn't answer...his body refused to let his voice come forth, his eyes refused to let him see the Angel's face. He shuddered and tried to slow his breathing...the voice stayed with him...calling, over and over and over but he couldn't see her face. He knew it was a she, he could tell by the voice and he felt awed that God would send him a female Angel...but he felt weight, something solid pressing on his lower abdomen...Angels should be feather light, not solid, not flesh and bone, warm, soft in all the right places...his eyes started to fill with the Angel's shape...she looked like...like Sara...Sara was an Angel? How was this possible? Did he die? Did she? He needed answers but he was unable to ask them...so he stared at her, hoping she could supply what his mind needed.

"That's it Grissom" she ran worried hands up the sides of his face, down his neck, across his chest which was covered in a sheen of sweat "Come back to me baby...come on, that's it...look at me...come on..." she coaxed easily...her voice soft and her breath as she leaned over, warm and sweet. "Come on Gil...it's Sara...come on..." she pleaded over and over... She saw his eyes lock onto hers, blue against brown locked in a battle to focus..

"Sa...Sa...Sara" the word seemed to take an almost inhuman amount of effort to say. "Sara is it you?" he reached up, his hands landing on her hips as she knelt over him. "It's real...you're real..." he seemed genuinely amazed. Then he simply stared as the realization of what had happened started to take hold of him...

"Grissom...are you okay? What happened?" she was uncomfortable by the twist of his neck as he turned to take in his surroundings. He lifted his arms from her hips and looked at his wrists, slightly reddened over the earlier bruising from Brass' handcuffs. He wiggled his feet feeling that his ankles were free of their earlier bindings. "Grissom what's wrong?" he moved to lift her from him...she easily slid off and sat beside him thinking that he was still feeling pinned. "Grissom you're okay...you're safe!" she reached out to caress his shoulder and he shot off the bed...

"Oh My God...oh my God, oh my God!" he staggered into the bathroom and she heard the lock click into place. From behind the door, where she now stood pressing an ear to the wood she heard deep sobs coming from within... "What's happening to me?" she heard his voice scream out...

"Grissom..." she knocked on the door..."Grissom open the door...please...please let me in" she tried the knob already knowing it was locked. "Grissom please don't shut me out...don't do this...please you promised...you told me we'd face everything together...please open the door" she waited, she thought she heard the water turn on then off... She heard his footsteps approach and the lock click but she waited for him to pull the door open.

"Sara, I'm sorry...I'm sorry.." he reached out and gathered her into his arms. The hug crushed the breath from her but she was okay with it., for the first time, he didn't completely shut her out, he didn't put bricks back into the wall he'd once built. He'd done as she asked, begged and pleaded. He came out and held her tightly, but they were together...she'd wait for him to tell her what had just happened.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Thanks you all for reviews, I know I scared some with the last chapter but we all know, can't have GSR without a little angst once in awhile., besides I needed people to see that Grissom was effected by what had happened not only to Sara but as far back as Nick (where we've seen they'd gotten together afterwards)...and it was still having some ramifications in dealing with things. Have faith, love conquers many things, it involves a trust as you will see. Enjoy there will be more twists and turns as this unfolds...if you want me to continue...

Disclaimer: Yeah...rub it in CBS we know you own Grissom, but we own our stories...nananananan!

She led him back toward the bed but he shook his head "Need something to drink...could you make some coffee please?" it was his indication that they would be up for awhile and she nodded in agreement, kissed his cheek before she released his hand and left the bedroom.

Grissom stood, walked over the the bureau and looked into the mirror before slipping on a pair of sleeping pants. He rubbed a hand over his tired face and wondered what the hell had just happened. One minute they were joking, enjoying the moment together and suddenly he panicked and all hell broke loose. "I don't understand!" he whispered into the air. He thought back to Brass' words that sometimes, even when it seemed you were okay...you needed time to heal but he hadn't thought about himself., his concerns had been about getting Sara through the ordeal, first and foremost.

Sara waited for the coffee to finish, reached into the cabinet and removed two mugs. She placed them on the counter and waited for him to join her. When she saw him coming down the hallway still looking a bit uncomfortable, she decided to let him start the conversation. She poured them each a cup and handed his to him.

"I don't know" he answered the question before she could even put one forth. "I...I felt, saw...'' he took a sip of the steaming brew then put the cup down, reached for her hands and drew her to him as he sat on one of the stools by the counter. "I..." usually this was where she'd brush a hand against his cheek, tell him hush and it was okay and everything was fine but this time, she knew better, she knew he, they were far from fine.

"I know I never asked you for details Sara...but could you? Would you tell me something?" her eyes looked like those of a frightened deer, caught in headlights not knowing if it was better to go back the way you came of face your fear...she opted to face the fear together.

"If I can" was her most honest response wondering what he would ask.

"I need to know what it was like...what you felt, what you 'honestly' thought!" he dragged out the honestly part and she didn't miss it.

"If I tell you" she leaned against him "Will you tell me what happened just now?" she kept her hands wrapped soft and safe within his much larger hands and put her forehead against his looking deep and lovingly into his eyes. He simply swallowed then nodded in agreement.

"The second time I woke up and saw Natalie standing outside of the car..." she seemed to drift back to that time. "I remember asking her what she was doing, why she was doing this?" she drew in a breath. "It was after we'd struggled and I originally got out of the trunk...she had me in there you know..?" he nodded remembering how Warrick had found the speaker pulled from its mountings. "She drugged me...put something in the water and forced it down my throat...I remember her telling me you would never love me as much as Ernie loved her" she winced at the memories.

"Sara you know...I love you more than life itself!" a statement, not a question...he was that sure of both himself and Sara... "I thought I'd lost you...I knew she hurt you to get even with me for Ernie's death, she blamed me...probably still does in her twisted, sick mind" she saw tears behind the blue depths of his eyes. "It's the first time I lost it with a suspect" he saw her eyes widen in question. "When I talked to her, I was trying to get her to tell me where you were...she told me you weren't dead...I had so much hope that I could get her to confess where she'd taken you..." he paused, sniffled then continued. "She caught on, I don't think she's as crazy as her lawyers are trying to make her seem" he added that for future reference. "But she started singing that stupid song and I lost it...I actually shook her, I screamed at her to tell me where you were...but she wouldn't..." he released her hands long enough to rub at his face again. "I could have gladly killed her that night!" the confession took them both by surprise. "All I knew is I had to do whatever needed to be done to get you home, safe and sound...I felt that way about Nick you know?" she smiled and nodded. "But it was worse when it was you...I felt like my heart had been ripped out and buried with you..." he pulled her toward him and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Tonight...when I couldn't move...I was..." she kissed him.

"I remember a coyote coming to sniff at me" she continued, figuring it would give him time to compose himself. "It was scared away by the lightening...and then the rain came, I thought I was going..." she sobbed as tears started in her own eyes. "The ground felt like quicksand...well, I guess it felt like quicksand but I've never actually been..."she realized she was rambling. "Anyway., water filled the depression under the car, I thought for sure I'd drown...but when I was able to free my arm...and leg, I managed to get out from under it." she watched him closely to see that he was taking it all in.

"I knew what both of you felt like tonight, kind of, sort of...I felt like I was pinned, drowning, I felt like I was in that box, I saw green, greenish light...ants biting at me...sand, like grains of fine glass, shards shredding my skin...I felt water threatening to take away the air..." he hugged her even tighter to him. "I felt helpless and I felt..." he couldn't continue for a few minutes and Sara simply held him, rocked him as she whispered soothing words.

"I remember opening my eyes in the helicopter, I saw 'Grissom' on your vest and I knew...like a beacon that I was safe...that nothing could hurt me anymore. I saw your smile, how tired but incredibly sexy you looked to me..." she kissed his cheek, his eyelids... "I felt grounded...like I knew that no matter what life threw at me...you'd be there..." she smiled warmly and he pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear...so familiar a movement but one he treasured each time he was allowed to do so freely.

"Brass mentioned recovery time...I thought he was talking about you" he played with her hands as he spoke softly "I never considered..." she let go of his hands and gently placed hers under his chin forcing him to lift his head and look at her.

"That you would need to recover as well?" he nodded. "When Nicky was found, when you came to my apartment, before you got there I was in the shower...looked around and realized my damned shower was bigger than the box that he'd been in. I almost broke the door in my attempt to free myself because in my mind, I was in that box...you were in that box." her words told him that she understood what happened tonight because once upon a time, she'd lived through that very thing herself.

"Sara..." his voice was low, calm and pleading. "I need you to do something for me..." she stared deeply into his eyes and waited. "I need you to ..." he knew she'd think he was completely insane. "I need to try it again..." he hoped she would understand what 'it' was...but the look of confusion on her face told him that she wasn't following him. "I need you to, I need to know that" he was stumbling over his words in embarrassment "I want to try ..." he couldn't seem to find the words.

"You want me to tie you up again?" she felt stunned but there was something else there. Grissom trusted her enough to attempt something that scared the shit out of both of them. He trusted her that she would keep him safe. He smiled sheepishly then nodded.

"Are you sure?" she didn't want to force something on him that he wasn't comfortable with. "I guess I thought..." she had assumed before his confession that he'd never slept with Heather, that he might have had a first hand introduction to bondage but after he'd told her the truth, her own curiosity of the fetish had gotten the best of her, which is why she'd brought the ties into play tonight. She was now afraid that he might react negatively once again. "Before you told me about Heather...about the fact that you didn't..." she left it hang there but he saw through it.

"You thought she and I?" Sara nodded without him having to complete the thought. "I admit, there was an interest in the actual fetish of bondage..." he paused "Not that I wanted to get my rocks off whipping someone but the thought of giving yourself, placing that much of a trust in someone " his eyes told her that she was the one he would trust with his feelings. "It is all about trust Sara., that's what Heather said when I questioned her about people's interest in it." he gaged her reaction to hearing Heather's name again but this time, Sara being sure of her position in his life simply took it in stride. "She said the submissive had the power over the dominant but there had to be a safe word..." he wanted her to understand, this time it wasn't about the sexual nature of everything, this time it was about trusting Sara to get him through a repeat of what had happened earlier, if it should happen again.

"If you're absolutely sure that you want to do this, try this again Gil, I will...if you think you'll be okay" she acquiesced to his desires. "I don't want to hurt you, it scared me to see you like that" she had to be absolutely honest with him right now. "I know what it's like to feel powerless, defenseless and vulnerable" she leaned into him once more and kissed him between words. "I know what it's like to feel that someone else is controlling your life...you have no say so in the matter, no way to save yourself" she put everything on the table tonight. "I was most afraid that if I died, you wouldn't be able to go on without me" her voice was a mere whisper as she spoke those words.

"I wouldn't have" he looked broken as he stated that simple fact. "I wasn't alive before we got together"he smiled warmly "Your love, your ability to forgive my stupidity and fear was what gave me life, your laughter, your warmth, all those things made me what I am today." he kissed her passionately and drew her into his arms. "If you had...died, I would have wanted to as well, my heart and soul would have been gone" his openness was something that comforted her now. "I love you Sara Sidle, I think I always have, I was just too stupid or stubborn to see it." he captured her lips in a searing kiss once again.

She reached out, took his hand and led him toward their bedroom. "If you're absolutely sure?" she wanted him to have his out...but he shook his head and followed her happily...


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: My first real attempt at smut...if you don't want to picture them having any sex...do not read any further...

the rating for this chapter and possibly the next will go up to do graphic sexual descriptions...you've been Warned !!!!!

Disclaimer: If I owned them...I'd be Sara tonight!

He sat down on the bed, his eyes first scanned the room then moved over to Sara who was in the closet trying to find ties she knew that Grissom wouldn't be wearing anytime soon. "We're going to have to restock" she called from inside the room. "I don't really know which ones you like and which ones are expendable!" she came out with several draped over her arm. "I'll let you decide. Do you need two or four?" she knew he'd been okay when she'd originally tied his wrists but the minute his ankles had been confined was when the problem began.

"Let's start with two and see how it goes...okay?" he swallowed and his words came out in nearly a whispered tone. Sara nodded and held out the choices for him to pick. Thankfully the two he chose were those that she found worthy of destruction and not something she'd like to see him wear with any of his tailored suits.

"You know, we don't have to do this?" her tone was gentle and full of compassion and understanding.

"Yes we do" he looked up at her with blue orbs. "If we don't, we'll never know if we can move foreword from this and I for one don't want to be afraid of trying new things...anymore" he looked up shyly at her and was rewarded with the wonderful 'Sidle smile' he so loved. "I want to explore things with you...new things to keep our lives interesting, if I can't do this..." his hand motioned to the ties., "How can I know that I'll be able to do anything else?" she sat beside him.

"Maybe it's just too soon?" she soothed him with her voice while she gently ran her hand down his arm. "Maybe we're expecting too much for ourselves and we..." he looked up at her, pulled her into a gentle embrace and smiled.

"Sara, you're the one that went through it first-hand, how do you honestly feel about this?" he waited, knowing she was weighing her words carefully.

"No..." he started to nod, misunderstanding where she was going. "Not no as in no I don't want to do this...I do, but no, I don't want you to dismiss the fact that what Natalie did effected all of us, Me, you and the entire team...everyone's afraid to say anything about what happened because they're afraid to dredge up memories., too late...the memories are there and I'd prefer to talk it out, get everything out on the table like we're doing and put it behind us...Natalie wins if we can't move on...and I for one already showed that bitch that she's not going to stop me from loving you" she pushed him backwards on the bed as she straddled his waist. "She's not going to stop you from loving me!" she nudged him toward the headboard with her hips and crawled along with him. "She's not going to make me afraid to live, to try new things., to do...this" she gently looped one of the ties around his wrist and smiled. "Are you?"

"Are you as in...are you going to let her do this or are you as in ... am I ready?" he was stalling and Sara started to smile slightly.

"Are you ready for this?" she hung his arm from the tie and bobbed it up and down like the arm of some marionette. "Do you think you can handle this..?" she felt him harden beneath her. "Big Boy?" she teased then scooted up and back causing the smallest amount of friction as she heard him hiss in response. "Guess I can take that as a yes..." she leaned foreword to gently secure his hand to the one side of the headboard but didn't realize that her motion put her breast right in his face. He reached up with his tongue and lapped at the pert nipple that was tantalizing him. "Ugh...God" she pushed forward unintentionally as he first lavished her breast with his tongue, then expertly caught the nipple in his teeth and drew it to his mouth, all without the use of his hand. "You don't play fair!" she moaned receptively. She let herself enjoy the moment then looked into his eyes, without question he knew if she was asking him to proceed with the second tie and nodded decisively. "You're sure?" he didn't answer as his mouth was otherwise engaged but she wasn't about to complain, she slowly wrapped the tie around his second wrist then gently raised his arm above his head and secured it to the other side of the headboard. "You okay?" her breath was heady with arousal and came out in gasps.

"Ummmmmm" he continued working his lips and teeth from one breast to the other. His hands opened and closed as he tested the bonds. Sara had tied them this time with a slip knot that could easily and quickly be released should the situation call for it but the smile on his face, the glow in his eyes told her that all was going well. She decided to skip tying up his ankles for the time being and instead, linked her legs over his to give him the feeling of being confined without actually tying him down. He seemed to understand what she was doing and bucked his hips up against her causing her to gasp again..."Good...Sa...ra...soooooooooo good" he mumbled around his mouth of flesh. Sara smiled and kissed his neck, "Love you" he murmured against her skin..."Love you so much...so good for me..." his eyes closed and he was a million miles away...thoroughly enjoying himself and the situation this time.

"You okay?" She was trying hard not to wiggle to much, she didn't want him to be the only one giving pleasure so she suddenly sat still. "Are you ready for me?" Gil lifted his head releasing his hold on her nipple.

"Ready? Ready for what?" his voice groaned out as she started a slow slide down his body. She planted warm wet kisses from his nose, lips, on each side of his neck sucking loudly...then she nibbled each earlobe and then moved to the dip in his neck nearest his shoulders. Her hands kneaded and rubbed soft enticing circles everywhere her lips and mouth followed. Down his chest where she laved at each of his nipples till they pebbled and he seemed about to lose control. "Are you going to tie me up?" he wiggled his ankles to show what he meant. She shook her head slowly.

"Not unless you want me to...?" she hoped he didn't but knew that there was a real possibility he would push himself to the limits because he was the scientist and probably viewed this as an experiment. He looked into her eyes as she leaned over him. "If you want me to Gil...I'll do so because you ask me to...but if you would prefer, I can always use my body to..." he shook his head answering her question. He felt that if he didn't proceed with the original plans, he would never have a true answer.

"Please Saaaaaaaarraaaa...I want you to...to...to...tie...me...up" he whispered slowly so there was no mistaking the intention. She lifted a tie and worked her way down one leg kissing, tasting and nibbling from groin to ankle where she reverently wrapped the silken material around his ankle, again using the slip knot she secured first one leg, then repeated the procedure and hesitantly secured the final side.

"You still okay Gil?" he nodded..."Good...you have to let me know...okay?" she was watching, waiting and biting the inside of her lip unsure of how he was going to react. Slowly he lifted his arms again...tested the bindings., then just as slowly lifted each leg as much as the restraint allowed...So far, so good. "Okay..." her voice cracked and Grissom suddenly knew just how hard this was on her.

"Sara...please come up here" he bucked his hip and motioned for her to rise up to meet his eyes. "I'm okay...I promise you..." his voice stuttered slightly but he had already started on stilling his own mind by reciting the Periodic Tables. "If I can't handle it...I'll tell you" he pulled his neck up so he could kiss her. "I promise...I'm okay...so far" he laid his head back down and she slowly slithered down his body till she was resting with her head on his stomach. She reached out with a tongue and tentatively probed his navel which elicited another gasp, a sigh and a gulp.

"You like that?" he simply nodded and his breathing became heavier as she moved further down trailing the soft line of hair leading lower..."You want more?" her voice was a Siren to a sailor adrift on an ocean, calling him to her...he could only nod his agreement. "You like when I do this?" she used her tongue to swipe at the tip of his straining erection. He whimpered and strained against the bonds. Sara smiled, lightly licked the underside vein and gently running her teeth against his skin. Slowly

she suckled at the tip then swept her tongue around the plum colored head "And this?" he bucked into her mouth and she quickly swallowed his entire length relaxing her throat so he could go as deep as he wanted. He pulled back his hips and she let him slip from her lips. "You're quite a big boy" she licked her lips and placed them back just over the head then sucked him further into her mouth as she twirled her tongue wherever she could reach. 

"Yessssssssssssss" he wanted her to know that while he was okay...she was driving him toward the cliffs of pleasure...but he felt guilty that he'd slid his entire penis into her throat without warning her..."I'm .I'm sooor...so ... sorry..." he apologized and she immediately lifted her eyes to his..."I didn't...pre...prepare you..." she quickly understood and smiled.

"It's okay..." she wrapped a hand around the base and with her other she cupped his testicles and softly kneaded them. "I was ready" she assured him. It had taken months of practice, at first her gag reflex had been triggered every single time but eventually, she read and with a bit of inventiveness and toys had practiced enough to learn how to relax her throat muscles and take him in. When it had happened the first time, all he could do was stand there, pants around his ankles in their hallway as she leaned forward on his knees and buried her nose into his pubic area. She looked up, the sight of her, on the ground, taking everything he had to offer without him having to beg had been overwhelming and as he came...he cried and she simply bobbed her head, swallowed and hugged him to her.

Afterwards, he had explained that no other woman had so willingly wanted to do that for him and he assumed with his limited relationships that it had something to do with perhaps the taste, texture or he just wasn't positive and he sure and hell wasn't about to ask. She has assured him that while she was no scholar at it herself and he obviously wasn't complaining., that his taste and his texture was something that turned her on immensely and she looked forward to giving as well as getting oral satisfaction. He was equally astounded that she could actually make herself come while giving him pleasure but after the first couple times, he'd made her stop and told her in no uncertain terms that she would have to either let him pleasure her first or wait until she was done with him and he was more than willing to reciprocate in kind. She didn't tell him then but she kind of liked when he was a bit dominant with her.

He was getting close and he started to beg her to ride him to completion but she shook her head "This isn't about me...it's about you..." she resumed her position and continued the ministrations as he repeatedly pleaded with her to stop...she felt his legs stiffen and for a moment, she paused waiting to see what his reaction was going to be, this time thankfully it was because he was nearing climax and not from panicking.

"Saaaraaaa pleeeeeaaaaase no more...stop...pleaaaase, I want to come inside you..." his voice was nearly a high pitched whine.

She pulled her mouth from him for only a minute as her hands fingers worked his length..."Oh you'll come...and it will be inside me" she kissed the tip of his arousal once again..."Inside my mouth" and once again she swallowed him whole. He lost control, he felt the sweat dripping off his back as he arched and writhed under her and rode her mouth...she swallowed each spurt with a grin and kept applying suction until nothing was left. He dropped back to the bed but his hips continued their movement as if of their own volition. Sara swiped her mouth with the back of her hand, sat up and smiled at him. "You ready for round two?" she teased as she gently fingered his softening shaft.

"Oh My God woman, you're going to kill me!" he lifted his head to see if she was serious and when he realized she was teasing him...dropped it back to the pillow. Sara crawled up to him and briefly paused staring into his eyes.

"You doing okay?" he gulped and nodded unable to form words. "Good...now it's my turn..." she laughed as she scooted up over his stomach, up over his shoulders until his head rested right below her cleft. "Ready for dessert?" she chuckled and watched his eyes follow her mound as she lowered herself over his mouth.

"You planning on untying me?" he mumbled as his hands clenched open and closed.

"Nope!" she looked at him, pinned beneath her "You're doing this...hands free tonight!" she lowered herself and felt his tongue run up the crease of her folds. She hummed and growled her approval...

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Thanks for all the positive responses on the last chapter, yup it was my first attempt at smut…GSR smut at that and I would die of embarrassment if I knew any of 'them' read this stuff….LOL.. I will be taking some time to thank each of you individually for the support you've shown on my writing this story….I cannot guarantee that I'll stick to the storyline of CSI…as far as Sara 'possibly returning.' in my world…she'll go and come back…(spoiler there)….because GSR should always prevail….

Disclaimer: I'm saving my pennies, someday I'll be able to afford Grissom……

Enjoy it's a little shorter than my usual but I'm typing away on the next chapters as you read this…..

"Wow" he lay back as she gently untied each of his limbs. He sighed, stretched like a cat and then shook his arms and legs to get back the circulation. "That was..." his loss of words caused Sara to smile warmly at him as she leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"You good?" the twinkle in her eyes let him know that she'd been pleased with the response she'd elicited from him over the course of the last hour or so. Both were covered in light sheens of sweat and Grissom had the appearance of a very satiated man.

"I'm good!" he nodded, licked his lips and turned onto his side so he could prop up his head on his arm and look at her. "How about you? You good?" he pursed his lips and snickered.

"Oh, I'm better than good" she collapsed on the bed next to him and sighed loudly. His hand moved over to her hip and she covered his much larger one with her small dainty hand. "That was amazing!" her breathing was only now starting to return to normal. "You sure you're okay?" she worried the entire time and it was only when he reciprocated her pleasures that she was remotely able to relax and actually enjoy the encounter. Gil reached up a hand and ran a finger down the middle of her forehead to the tip of her nose and feather soft over her lips.

"I'm honestly okay...no repeat of what happened last" he smiled warmly. "I promise you, if it happens again you'll be the first to know Sara,. I won't keep anything from you...ever again" his voice quivered as he thought back to the surprise she'd shown when he finally admitted that he was burning out last year. "I know I haven't always been honest with you" he took he hand in his and brought it up to his lips. "I thought you wouldn't understand, or you'd try to keep me from going..." she went to say something but he silenced her with a kiss "I realize now that you wouldn't have done that Sara but...I have to be honest, the day I left you in the locker room, it took all my willpower to walk away" his eyes suddenly took on a glassy appearance and she knew she saw tears. "If you had asked me to stay...I would have...but I needed time to fix me...to take stock and appreciate everything I had in my l life" he rolled over and caressed her cheek and neck. "I didn't...don't feel that I fully appreciated you until I didn't have you in my life for a month...I went to bed and woke up lonelier by the day...I almost came home a time or two and I knew if I wrote to you and you called or wrote back, I'd have been on the next bus home." his honesty was empowering to her.

"I wanted to beg you not to go, I so did" she felt his tongue playing between her fingers. "I looked at you when you said you'd miss me and I wanted to grab you and hold on, I was so afraid you'd have time to think that what we had was a mistake.." she sniffed back her own unshed tears. "When I didn't hear from you, I was sure that you realized that we didn't belong together..." she wiped the tears with the back of her hand. "Then I got that cocoon and there was no letter and I thought that either you'd had nothing to say to me...or you were afraid to tell me how you really felt." she buried her head in his neck.

"Hey..." he turned over and cuddled her, brought his hands up to capture her face "Look at me...Sara" he smiled, leaned forward and kissed each of her eyelids and then her nose. "I hope this..." he looked around the room "Was a very clear indication of how I feel about you, us..." his voice wasn't a question but more a statement of fact and truth. "I hope you never have reason to doubt me again., I love you Sara Jane Sidle, you and only you and I told that to our entire team...of course I hadn't meant to do it without your permission" he looked into her eyes and his ocean blue orbs gleamed with happiness. "But I was so worried and so upset that Natalie had gone after you instead of me that it slipped out..." she kissed him back.

"I'm glad she did" his eyes opened wide. "I wouldn't have handled it if she hurt you..." she snuggled closer. "If I had seen that miniature and it had been you under there...I wouldn't have held it together...I would have lost my mind and probably any chance I had to find you..." tears poured from her eyes. "When I was awake...under that car, all I could think about was how it had taken us so long to finally get it right...and I hated her because she was taking you away from me, if I died and didn't get to tell you that I loved you..." he hugged her tighter and kissed her shoulders.

"I never doubted that Sar...that you loved me...you've loved me before I realized how much I loved you...but you need to know, I've loved you since the first time I saw you in my classroom" he giggled like a little kid "You and that tie dyed tee shirt, your hair was in a ponytail..." she blushed at the memories. "I just remember looking up and there you were, I thought...WOW!" he smirked...

"Wow...as in Wow or Wow as in Wow, she has guts enough to wear those clothes?" she was teasing now and he pulled her onto him and kissed her leisurely this time, no rush, no hurry...just languid kisses planted on every inch of available skin.

"You have no idea how much I wanted to do this from the first time I saw you" he kissed her between words and each got wetter and sloppier "the next day, you wore that orange halter top and I saw all these wonderful freckles...and I wanted to spend the rest of my life counting them, kissing them..." he moved to her neck and she groaned loudly. "It was like having the Milky Way availed to me...innumerable stars that one could spend eternity counting and I would have to start over and over as I lost count., but we wouldn't complain would we?" his kisses deepened the pink of her skin as she shook her head in agreement. "To know that I can come home and freely touch, taste and hold you...and nothing can stop us..." he felt her tense slightly but didn't think much of us...later he would recall that moment and wonder if he should have called her on it...


	23. Chapter 23

He'd gone to the lab, called out on the weekend they'd scheduled together because of some infestation of bugs on the body. She'd offered to accompany him but he said she hadn't seemed to be sleeping well lately and hoped with him gone she might catch up by a few hours. She didn't., instead she'd taken Bruno on a three mile run, came home, dusted, vacuumed and washed the kitchen floor on her hands and knees and now she was waiting on the fourth load of laundry as she sat on their bed thinking.

Lately, she ran more and more often and wondered on more than one occasion if it was ever possible to want to 'run out of your own skin'. She couldn't explain it, she had the love of her life, a home that gave her almost everything she lacked in her entire childhood, a man that openly adored her after years of push me pull you games. She had the dog, the house, the two-car garage, friends that were more family than she'd ever imagined. She had a job that she used to love...and that's when it hit her...'_used to love_'.

She couldn't tell you when it had started to become the 'used to...' but it was growing more and more apparent each day that something was lacking in her job. Perhaps it was the reminder that in doing her job, she'd almost lost her life., or the fact that because of her job, she'd been put into the position she now found herself in, floundering in her opinion, on a shift she couldn't seem to adjust to, with people that although receptive of her addition to their team still seemed to keep her just on the fringes. She didn't dare tell Grissom, he would have immediately suggested switching as he had done originally but she had fought him tooth and nail on that. He was in her opinion the heart and head of the Graveyard shift and she wasn't about to be the one who proverbially 'beheaded' that unit so she'd decided she'd make the switch. At first she easily blamed it on the hours but with each passing day, something inside broke and she found it more and more difficult to find a reason to continue.

She picked up one of her Forensic journals and decided to sit outside on the deck with Bruno and that's where Gil found her hours later, nothing more of the magazine being read then the inside cover. She'd been more and more distracted as of late and today, she'd been unable to stop the tears that poured like rain and dampened her shirt.

"Sara...?" he'd called her several times walking from room to room, saw the work she'd gotten done, gleaming kitchen floor, the fact that Bruno's leash had been hung on its hook instead of casually tossed like he was prone to do. The laundry in the bedroom had been washed, folded, put away, things that needed to be hung to dry were on hangers across the bar he'd put up just for that reason and the bedroom, kitchen and living rooms were immaculate...he was upset. He'd noticed her lack of sleep, decreased appetite and increased moodiness over the last few weeks but held his tongue in check., today it was too much.

He found her sitting on the deck and this time, he was unable or unwilling to let things slide. "Sara Jane Sidle!" his voice reminded him of his fathers for a moment. "Apparently you don't take directions very well do you?" he couldn't seem to muffle his temper. "I specifically asked you to get some rest, instead it looks like the Merry Maids went through this place and the dog is sacked out so I know you've at least run him what...3 possibly 5 miles?" he moved around her and noticed immediately her vacant stare, tear stained shirt and wet, glimmering cheeks...but she hadn't heard a word he said. "Sara...Sara?" he crouched down beside her chair "Honey what's wrong?" she turned and looked at him like she didn't immediately recognize him..."Sweetheart, tell me what's wrong?" he took her hand and brought it to his cheek. She opened her eyes wide like she'd just realized he was there.

"Gil...I...I can't do this anymore..." his heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. His mind began spinning.."She's leaving me...she doesn't want to marry me...she realizes I'm ...I'm old...I knew this would happen" he told his heart "I knew, I should have been prepared...it was only a matter of time" his mind was laughing at his stupidity "You thought you could make her happy old man...yeah! She's looked at her life and it's nothing like she thought and now she wants out..." he felt his heart tearing from his chest.

"What can I do to make you stay?" She blinked...swallowed and realized suddenly what thoughts were crossing his mind..."What can I do to make you love me...?" his eyes widened in horror at the thought of his life without her. He knew if she wasn't part of him it would destroy him and who he was., what he was...

"Oh my God!...No!...No no no no no...it's not you...it's not you Gil, honestly it's not you...it's not us...shit" she swung her leg over the chaise lounge so she was facing him... She grabbed him like her life depended on it.."Gil I'm sorry, it's not you, not us...it's me..." his confusion deepened and the frown on his face told her as much. "Honey something's wrong...but it has nothing to do with you...you and me" she kissed him over and over trying to alleviate the disheartening feeling that had settled in his chest and the fear that was so evidently sketched on his face. "I'm so sorry Gil, I never meant to make you feel..." she burrowed her head into his chest and the sobs overtook her body...Grissom could only kneel there and hold her until she was better able to explain it to him.

The crying went on for some time and in between she planted kisses on his face and neck then buried her head against him and wept more. "Sara...talk to me Honey...please tell me what I need to do?" he lifted her chin and stared into her caramel eyes. "I'll do anything I need to do to fix this...you, us..." he still couldn't comprehend that it wasn't him, yet she couldn't put her own finger on the problem.

Sara sat up and wiped angrily at her cheeks "You have to let me go!" she knew now that in order to heal, she had to make a clean start. The shock on Grissom's face tore at her heart. "I'm sorry, I can't stay here" he immediately thought she meant with him. "I have to leave Vegas...I need to leave...I can't do this job anymore..." her words were killing him with each minute that passed. She must have finally caught the look in his eye and she stopped, took his face in her hands and kissed him then she backed away. "Listen carefully to me Gilbert. I am not trying to end our relationship, I want to marry you, honestly I do..." she looked at her engagement ring again "But something is very wrong with me right now., I hate my job..."

"I'll switch to swing, honestly Sar it won't be that big of a deal for me, you can come back to grave and..." but she was shaking her head realizing that although he would as promised move Heaven and Earth to make her happy, to do anything for her, he couldn't fix her...

"It's not that Gil...it is, but it's not..." she wished more than anything that she could find the words to say how she was feeling...but she was just as frustrated by the turmoil going on in her heart and mind. "I love you...I always have and always always will" she kissed him. But Natalie broke something inside of me and I need to go back and find out what...and fix it..…"

"Where will you go?" he sat back finally understanding, she wasn't running from him or them. "Do you need me to go with you? I will ya know, I'll go anywhere you need me to ... I'll do what whatever we have to, we can leave the lab, I could teach somewhere, I could...we could retire and live by the beach or maybe we could get a small cabin in the mountatins..you like mountains don't you? No wait! You loved San Francisco, we could go back there, I could take time off and write a book, I've had offers you know...and..." she put her hand over his mouth and smiled...she started laughing.

"You'd follow me to the end of the earth and I love you for it...but I have to do this on my own" she knew he would be hurt "I have to go away and find out what I lost in order to appreciate EVERYTHING I've found..." she smiled and kissed him. "Believe me, if the answers were here in Vegas, I'd stay but I don't believe they are...I think what has happened made me question everything about my past, from the parents I had...or didn't..." she looked somber "The foster homes that I was processed through, my Mother and Brother...I have a lot to sort out...and I can't do it with distractions" she meant that in a kind way but when his eyebrow shot up, she knew she had some damage control to do. "You are a very very good distraction Gil...but as much as I had to try to understand what you were going through, I can't even begin to explain what's wrong, I only know the answers aren't here...and I have to go back where it began...I need to find Sara Sidle...the girl you fell in love with." she looked into his eyes with the utmost sincerity and he felt lost.

He nodded knowing she'd eventually been forced to support him and he hadn't even given her the opportunity to discuss it, to offer to go with...he'd made his decision, months before when he'd accepted the invitation and chicken shit that he was, he hadn't given her more than 72 hours to accept that it was happening and didn't ask her to join him. He'd made his statement "I was offered a teaching position, it's for a month, out on the East Coast, I've decided to take it...but I'll be back..." and off he went. He learned the hard way that absence did indeed make the heart grow fonder, more fearful that when he got back, she wouldn't be waiting for him...which she was so. He in turn offered her the same. "I'll be here, when you get back, no matter how long it takes...I'll wait..." he swallowed and could barely utter the next words. "Just promise me...when you find what you're looking for...when you fix what you need to...promise me you will come back!"

She smiled, kissed his lips gently and hugged him. "That's a promise I can keep!" She went into the house and began the arduous task of packing her things, calling the lab and talking to Conrad who wasn't all that thrilled about her taking an indefinite leave of absence until she told him that she was more than happy to make it permanent if need be. Fearing that he would also possibly lose Gil Grissom and the labs number two standing in the country, he'd finally agreed to open end her leave.

"I hope you find what you're looking for Sara...The lab will miss you" he stated quietly and simply before hanging up the phone. It had gone easier than she'd originally thought.


	24. Chapter 24

He was in his office, the door slightly ajar, lights off except for the glow of the desk lamp which was the only source of light he was using at the moment. Catherine started to walk past and stopped debating whether or not entering would be a smart move. She'd heard through the grapevine that Sara had taken an indefinite leave and assumed that she was simply remaining at home allowing herself to heal.

"Hey Gil, how is everything?" she tapped the file she was holding against her empty palm. "Everything good with Sara?" it was something about the way he looked up at her that stopped her from saying more.

"She's gone Cath.." he put his head back down and continued working on the myriad of paper that was stacked around him. He thought Catherine was gone until he peered over his glasses. "She left a week ago" was the most he was willing to add, actually it was all he could add since he hadn't heard from her since she left telling him that it would be easier if he waited for her to contact him. He had hoped she would tell him when she arrived at wherever it was she was heading but nothing had been forthcoming and he grew more and more worried by the day. He had talked to Brass who instantly offered to talk to some of the 'boys' and track her down but he'd told him it wasn't necessary, that he'd promised to give her time and if she wanted to talk, she would have called.

He grew more and more sullen as the days slipped into weeks, the weeks became two months and still he heard nothing from her. Each day was spent working doubles and triples at the lab 'anything to avoid the empty cavern that his, their home had become'. He hired a cleaning service to come in and keep the place up, the boy next door had taken over feeding and walking Bruno and he saw him infrequently as the weeks went by. No longer able to hide in the lab, he had assigned himself to a solo B&E at a local liquor store.

"You sure you don't need a hand boss?" Nicky had been more than willing to give up dumpster diving with Greg in exchange for keeping an eye on Grissom's back.

"No, shouldn't be a problem., mostly prints, some video tape to collect., I'm thinking it will be an in and out job, maybe be there a few hours at best." he thanked them for their concern, went and collected his kit and loaded his SUV before turning to Brass. "I'll meet you there, I just want to run by and pick up my mail" the townhouse was on the way and Grissom had gotten into the habit of running home and checking the mailbox on a daily basis. So far his trips had given him nothing, no letter, no clue to her whereabouts but he kept hoping.

He quickly drove up to the mailbox and noticed a box sitting on the top, the front swing door of the metal box was open and stuffed with various sized envelopes, catalogs and magazines. He pulled them through the window, gave them a quick perusal, did not think much of the box with no return address and tossed everything into the passenger seat and continued on to the liquor store where he knew Brass would be waiting.

"Hey" he was greeted by the older man leaning casually against the hood of his Ford Taurus, "Owner said there were three of them, two of them got into it in the back aisle, when he went to see what was going on., the third jumped the counter and cleared out most the register., he chased them with a baseball bat, got a black eye for his efforts and a gun shoved in his face." he went over his notes making sure he didn't miss anything. "Owners pissed, can't say I blame him, he's worked hard to get this place up and running, it's the third time it's been hit this month." Gil could easily understand that in this neighborhood.

They entered together, the uniform opting to wait outside with one of the other squads that had rolled by. Brass was comfortable with this knowing he was accompanying Gil inside. The owner came around the corner, a small set man of Hispanic decent. "You gonna do something about this?" he pointed to the damage that littered most the store. "I wish to God I'd gotten my hands on one of them., you'd have an ID pretty damned quick!" his voice was full of venom and misdirected at the two men. "I would have gladly taken their heads off with this bat" he waved it around himself. "Would serve the sobs' right ya know.."

Brass stood beside him "Now Mr. Fuentes, I understand how you're feeling, honestly I'm not taking this lightly, neither of us are. This is Gil Grissom from the Crime Lab" Gil nodded "He's going to need your surveillance tapes, any information you can supply and he's going to print the store, take some pictures and go from there." he knew firsthand that this business was probably supporting an entire family including parents and children alike.

"Don't hold much faith in that crime stuff, ya see it on TV all the time, they always get the bad guys but I know better, them punks are gonna come back and do it again, this time I'll be ready" he didn't show a weapon but both men knew his intentions.

"Now listen, you bring a gun to a gunfight, someone is bound to lose, let's not give them the satisfaction of upping the ante here." Brass moved toward the counter "See that picture, I'm thinking that's your little girl..." the man nodded, "be a shame she lost her daddy because of some misguided act of heroism" he stressed the misguided and Grissom moved off to begin his task. He decided to start with the back of the store.

About two hours into processing, Brass got a call that a child was missing and informed Grissom that he was leaving, he assumed the uniform would wait for the Criminalist to finish so he felt safe in the knowledge that Grissom had back up if needed. It was about two hours later that the call came in..."Officer down!" and before the address was issued on not only the radio but his pager, Brass had a feeling he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.


	25. Chapter 25

He didn't think the day could get any worse, the call regarding the missing child had, after three hours been confirmed as a hoax. Mom was highly upset that her soon to be ex-husband was now seeing someone 10 years younger than herself. The father had visitation that day and was taking the child to see the tigers at the Mirage. Mom decided to have a little fun at Dad's expense and had her best friend call in the Missing Child report. The subsequent Amber alert had done little more than cost the mother a huge fine and some much unappreciated jail time. Looks like Dad was going to be seeing the child a lot more now that Mom was going to be indisposed.

The thought was lost the moment he had gotten the initial call of "Officer Down" and knew in his gut what he was driving into...It progressed when he heard from Conrad that not only was the victim none other than Gil Grissom but the perpetrators were still on the scene and it had escalated to a hostage situation. Brass drove like a wild man and two or three times, he was positive that the Ford Taurus was either going to stall out or tip over as he rounded each corner. His mind was running faster than the car trying to remember if Grissom had told him anything about Sara's whereabouts. He was not looking forward to being the one to make that call.

The original uniform was standing next to Officer Formansky, hands waving frantically in conversation with their commanding officer who was apparently jotting down notes on a pad he held in his hands as Jim's car slammed to the curb. He was out for hide and he knew exactly who his first two victims were going to be.

"What the hell happened?" he didn't mince words as he stood toe to toe with both officers. "Can either of you explain how the hell a perpetrator managed to not only get past you, but now has my best friend held hostage?" he was sure that before the day was over, his blood pressure was going to top 200 and his heart was not going to handle this too well. It was about to get even worse.

"They all came back...from what the surveillance feed shows, there are three in there!" the one office who looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up offered the update.

"Oh Jesus Christ could it get worse?" Jim was beyond pissed...he'd escalated to the point that if he could have, his big hands would be wrapped tightly around one or both of their necks.

"Well Captain, it can...Grissom apparently tried to protect the store owner, as far as we know he took two shots...

"He's wearing his vest right?" Brass was trying to think back to when he was originally on the scene with Grissom, he was sure that he'd been wearing the black Kevlar vest that was mandatory.

"They got lucky...he's got a leg wound but the second shot apparently entered under the armpit..." the officer looked like he was about to burst into tears. "Captain I'm sorry...I, I only stepped out for a minute, everything was secure..."

"You NEVER leave an officer alone EVER!" he finger was inches from the younger officer's nose. "We lost one CSI because her partner left her alone and the officers were pulled from the scene. We nearly lost another two years ago when he was abducted from a scene because one of you assholes couldn't hold down your dinner at another crime scene. I have personally made your watch commanders tell you day in and day out that you NEVER EVER leave an officer at the scene unattended and I know for a fact that it's been made a part of your General Orders package... He turned just as Conrad Ecklie exited his vehicle.

"It's Gil...what else have you heard?" Ecklie's hands were fisted and shoved deep into his slacks pockets.

"This asshole left him alone after I got called to a phony missing persons, three get that, not one but three perps made it past this knucklehead and Grissom apparently tried to protect the store owner who was still on scene and took at least two bullets" he swallowed to get air to his lungs which were already bursting from the anxiety.

"He wearing his vest?" Conrad's voice held the same hope Brass' had earlier but the look on the Captain's face made Conrad groan.

"Two shots that we know of, one in the leg, one in the armpit area..." they were seasoned enough to know exactly what that could mean, there were so many vital organs in that area. "I want to do the negotiations Conrad!" he wasn't asking, he was begging and knew that his request was putting both of them in a delicate situation. "I've been there, Grissom saved my life...I owe him this..." he and Ecklie walked side by side to the police cars that were acting as temporary barricades. "I'm not asking Conrad..." he didn't need to finish, the man knew.

"Anyone call Sidle?" his thoughts were mirrored in the team that suddenly surrounded them. Nick was the first one to ask and Brass shrugged.

"Last time I talked to Gil, he said he hadn't heard from her...since she left." the sadness that came with that statement left none of the Graveyard without thoughts wondering why she would have done that. "She never called to even tell him where she wound up and when I offered to see if I could locate her...Grissom dismissed the idea and said and I quote "She gave me time Brass, all these years it took for me to finally open my eyes, I owe her" and he wouldn't hear of it, thought a time or two of just doing it behind his back but..." he did not need to say more.

"Well" Catherine was beside herself "I would suggest that someone find her...before it's too late!" she looked at Greg who was standing talking to Warrick "Greg, back to the lab, you use whatever resources you have to and find Sara, you put an APB out on her, her car...and you call me as soon as you hear anything you understand?" Greg nodded a little disheartened that he was leaving the scene where his boss, mentor and friend might very well be fighting for his life but he also knew that the one thing that might keep him going was for Sara to be by his side.

"I'm on it Cath!" he sprinted to the SUV that he'd been riding in and took off for the lab.

"Warrick, I want live feed from the store surveillance equipment, if SWAT is called in, we'll lose any chance we have of hooking in and I for one don't like being kept in the dark!" Catherine was a pro when the chips were down and everyone knew that lives depended on this. The most important life of all., Gil Grissom's.

"Nicky, you go with Brass and Ecklie, find out what you can about the perps, if you can..." she knew that it would be tedious work "Get Hodges to link you live feed to the lab and I want everyone on standby in case we need them!" she was thinking about what else she could do to assist the operation she knew they were undertaking. She turned to the two officers and gave them a look that could have melted steel "I would like to hear from both of you, just how the hell this happened?"

The youngest stepped forward, in another light, seeing a 6 foot 2 inch man going toe to toe with someone of Catherine Willows smaller stature might have appeared comical, but in this instance, there was little humor to be seen as she prepared to ream them both new assholes. "We were outside for awhile, then we went in and checked with Mr. Grissom, he said he would only be a little while more and asked us to stay outside so we didn't contaminate evidence, the owner was behind the counter sitting on a stool talking to someone on the telephone when we stepped out...as requested" he added that like it would matter now.

"So the two of you were outside, it's a pretty clear night..." she glanced around "Nothing to impede your view of the store front" she wasn't asking. She was stating facts from the Criminalistic side of things. "Should have easily seen three people approaching but apparently what? You were distracted? Momentarily blinded? or did the smell of coffee and donuts from there" she pointed to the little shop across the parking lot "seem a little more enticing?" she pulled out a tape lift, walked over to the second officer and pointed to his tie. "Powder sugar on black, not hard to spot!" she pressed the adhesive to the spot then lifted and sealed it. Taking a pen from her vest she signed and dated the evidence and leaned in to read the officer's name from his nametag. "Formansky...seems you and Grissom have a bit of history!" she knew the entire story and wondered just what Brass would have to say about her discovery.

"Listen here!" the older office put his hand up "I wasn't first officer on the scene, I wasn't assigned this and..." Catherine stepped into his personal space and put her finger directly in his face.

"No, you listen here, I have two officers who were outside a crime scene, I have one of them with a tie full of powder sugar and who shares a history with the Criminalist that is now not only a victim but apparently a hostage as well and trust me, if you think Gil came down hard on you, you've seen nothing yet because if God forbid he doesn't make it, I'm going to make it my life goal to see your career flushed down the drain if I have to take it to the local media...and trust me Formansky...I have more connections than the Mayor of this God Forsaken town!" she was livid and the color on her neck and cheeks mirrored one of the worst looking sunburns. Formansky swallowed loudly and stepped back.


	26. Chapter 26

Gil had been talking to the manager as he was processing the scene, it made it easier to keep an eye on the agitated man who had originally been pacing like a caged tiger, ranting and raving how he'd come to this country and been treated badly since he opened the business and now he was a target for the third time. Gil nodded and continued with his work. The man went on to tell about his children, how he was trying to make a better life for them putting in sometimes 18 hour days because you could never fully trust the people you hired not to steal from you. Gil chuckled under his breath at that one.

He'd heard chatting and the swoosh of the automatic doors as they opened and closed so he got up from his crouched position, not easy after hours of being bent over and on his knees but he stood as quickly as he could and went to see who had entered the store. He saw the original officer and then spotted officer Formansky who had accompanied the young man inside.

"Grissom" the older officer nodded politely but there was a cold air considering the past that they had shared which hadn't been pleasant on either occasion.

"Formansky" he acknowledged but when he saw them starting to move around the store, he quirked and eyebrow and shook his head "Could you both wait outside?" he motioned around him "I still need to collect evidence from this area" which he had already done unbeknown to them "I need to keep contamination of the scene to a minimum...sorry" the younger man shrugged and the older officer grunted before they walked back outside and engaged in conversation.

Grissom returned to his kit and started dusting the freezer where the owner had claimed one of the men had touched the door., he lifted several prints and cataloged them before slipping them into the inside pocket of his vest. He was crouched down again when he heard the doors open yet again and the manager start spouting off what he assumed were obscenities in Spanish. That's when all hell broke loose. Making his way quickly up front, he came face to face with one of the men who was holding a 45 to the owner's head.

"You think you're so smart old man, coming after me with a baseball bat? Who's the man now?" he pressed the weapon against the panicked man's temple. This man looked to be the oldest of the three that Grissom now saw were all inside the store. Where the hell were the cops?, he looked beyond them men and saw the squad but no officers in the immediate area.

"Listen..." Gil came forward and was met by a second man with a gun, it looked like a 22. "look, you don't need to do this..." he moved slowly and steadily toward the owner and the first man. "Before this gets out of hand, why don't you all just leave..." he finally acknowledged the third man who was armed with a knife.

"You're that guy..." the third man with the knife pointed it in Gil's direction., "I seen you on TV, you're one of them crime cops..." he was waving it wildly now. "Great, just what we needed...cops Julio" he looked at the oldest man with the gun.

"I'm not a cop!" Gil hoped he could keep the situation from getting worse. "I simply collect evidence at crime scenes" he wanted to keep the panic level to a low degree. "Look, right now you're all looking at a simple breaking and entering...you don't want to do this.." he looked around "Why don't you go now while you can and forget about this.." he knew that if they walked out the door, the cops would, if they were present grab the three but he saw the wild expression.

"Do we look stupid man?" the oldest, Julio pulled the store owner with him, gun still pressed to his temple "This asshole went after me with a baseball bat, you think I can just forget that?" he was looking between Gil and the owner as the words spewed from his mouth

"He was trying to protect his family business, you'd do the same if you were in his shoes." Gil hoped to reason with them. "You can't blame him for trying, you came to take his money from him." what he said would have made sense to an older man but to the teenager with the gun, it apparently didn't.

"He could have just given it up!" he pushed the older man around so he was facing him...then lifted the gun and put it between the older man's eyes. "Instead he has to play hero, you don't mess with me and my guys...we came here for a reason...we needed that money!" he was shouting and the spittle was spraying as his words shot forth. "Should have just given it up old man!" his finger caressed the trigger of the gun.

"Look" Grissom moved again to draw attention from the shopkeeper "He needed the money too, he's supporting a wife and children and his parents...he works just as hard for his money and ..." before he could finish, the store owner decided to add his two cents making the situation escalate to a code orange.

"I work for my money you stupid piece of shit" he spun around on the young man "You come here with your guns and baseball bats, your knives and you prey on people like me and just expect us to hand over our hard earned cash and not fight back?" he was livid, he even turned toward Grissom "You think I was wrong? You think I should have just turned over the little cash I make?" All eyes turned toward him for a moment.

"I don't think money is worth dying over, on either side" he looked at the three armed men and the shop keeper.

"You wouldn't man!" the youngest with the knife drew up along side Grissom and displayed his blade "I wouldn't worry about the money either if I was making your salary man!" he put the cold steel against Gil's neck and stood there. Gil kept eye contact but his facial expression never gave anything away.

"I work for my money, Mr. Fuentes works for his money..." his words were slow and drawn out. "We don't make a living out of stealing from others" he knew his statement might anger the three armed men but his main concern was that Mr. Fuentes looked about one step from trying something that could endanger his life.

"You're educated, you probably went to the finest schools, had the best of everything..." the youngest man began again..."Your parents probably paid for your education." he saw the muscles working on Gil's jaw line and decided to see how far he could push the Criminalist. "Momma and Daddy probably gave you a Rolex when you graduated!" he pressed on.

"My father gave me nothing, he died when I was little!" Gil's words were barely audible except to himself and the younger man next to him. "My Mother worked two and three jobs to support us" he kept his tone low and level. "I worked my way through school on my own because I saw how hard she worked to keep food on our table." he neither looked directly at the man or away.

"Good for you...you don't know nothing...My Momma can't work...she's deaf, no one will hire her!" he spit the words into Gil's face. "Tell me Mr. Crime man...can you top that?" Gil looked at him for the first time and instead of a spiteful teenager, he recognized a child who had been handed more than he could deal with, probably didn't have a father figure and got into a gang with people he thought could help him on a free ride through the world.

"My Mother was deaf too" he stated plain and simple. "It wasn't easy for her either., people didn't understand her, the kids in my school made fun of her and me because we talked in sign" he noticed the sharp, quick glance in his direction "They called her dummy, the yelled at her because they knew she couldn't hear them...they made faces and..." he didn't finish, he knew the younger man understood. "Would your Mother be very proud of you if she saw you now?" a flinch, a shift of the eyes. "You can't help her if you're locked away in prison...can you?" a swallow, a gulp and a change in body posture. "You know it will never get easier for her, imagine her having to take what, two, three buses to visit you because your friends here got your ass locked up over what...fifty or sixty bucks that belonged to someone else?" the younger man put the knife down to his side.

"Julio...let's just go man...he's right., this is stupid...this just ain't right man..." He started to back away toward the door. "Let's go...I can't do nothing for my Momma if my ass is locked up...!" he saw the other two staring at him like he had two heads. "I'm outta here" he ran for the exit when Julio turned the gun that he'd had on the store owner toward the fleeing man's back.

"Can't let you do that bro...We go down, we go down together!" he took aim and before he got off a shot, Gil lunged toward him. In the next instant, the situation that until now had been low key suddenly shot to code red and Gil felt not only a burning sensation in his thigh that must have come from the man behind him, he turned and as he lifted his arm to shove the shop keeper to safety and keep the young man who was now running for the door safe, his mind told him that something red, hot and explosive had just entered his body under his arm...he hit the floor not knowing if his actions saved anyone or just cost them all their lives.


	27. Chapter 27

Catherine watched the live feed, it was a close up of the situation she hoped to never be involved in. She saw the different stages of the entire episode played out on the not always so telling face of Grissom. She gasped when the knife was put against Gil's neck, she barely relaxed when she realized that all three men were armed, two with guns.

She nearly collapsed when she realized that the running man was now a target of his own gang and her heart almost stopped when she realized that Grissom was doing the one thing she knew in her heart was the only answer, he'd put himself in the line of fire to save another man's life. It had most likely cost him his own.

The police surrounded the man that made it out of the store, he'd dropped the knife and immediately sank to his knees, arms in the air crossed behind his head. "I didn't do it...I didn't do it...!" he continued to scream as the police converged on him. Brass stood him up and quickly patted him down.

"He's clean" he reached down and picked up the knife in a hankie. "Tell me what the hell just happened!" he screamed into the assailant's face. The man/child in front of him began to crumble.

"That man, the crime man, he saved my life...I'm sorry...so sorry, Julio wanted some money today...we was here earlier...the store owner, he wouldn't give it to Julio he come after us with a baseball bat...Julio said we had to go back and show him who he was disrespecting" he was near tears. "I didn't know the crime man...but he's kinda like me..." Brass frowned and opened his mouth "His Momma was deaf like my Momma...his Daddy died., mine just left us one day...so I tell Julio let's just go, this ain't right...Crime man agrees with me...so I tell Julio that I ain't in on this no more and I started to leave...he was gonna shoot me so I ran and that Crime man., he shoves the store owner on the floor and got in the way...he took the bullets meant for me...Julio and TZ was gonna shoot their own brother...and he saved me" he sank to the ground and buried his face in his hands..."I'm so sorry...my Momma she's gonna be so pissed at me!" he looked beyond where he was seated and saw Gil's body prone on the ground. "He's dead isn't he?" he stared into Brass' eyes and Jim knew right then and there, what Grissom had known, this was no man, this was a lost child who just got in with the wrong group.

"I pray to God not.. Now what can you tell me about the other two?" his facade was back, he was Captain Brass and he was taking charge.

Greg was on the phone with the San Francisco PD, it was the most obvious place to start. He'd been quickly connected with Sara's old boss and after hearing that his mutual friend Gil was involved in the case he was very eager to do whatever he could. "I'll be happy to put an APB out on Sara...I've got friends across California Mr. Sanders and if she's in state, we'll find her, rest assured." he took Greg's phone numbers including his cell and the moment he hung up, he was on the computer putting into motion as state wide search for Sara's car then he picked up the phone and tried all her old haunts., including some of the mutual friends that she and he still kept in touch with.

Nick found out that two out of the three had records from Breaking and Entering, Battery, Assault with a deadly weapon, auto theft, the usual list of gang related crimes. He also was able to locate family members for two of the three men., the youngest Orville Morales was the last one he was working on.

Warrick delivered the live feed and was grateful to find out the shop owner had spent the extra money to have sound feed installed on the cameras, at least now, they'd have an ear into the situation. He linked up to the mobile computer and brought it to where Brass, Conrad and Catherine were now standing.

"I say we call in Swat and get them to bring in sharp shooters" Conrad was done playing by the rules. "The sooner we take them down, the faster we get the two hostages out of there!" he was trying his damndest to maintain an air of control but Catherine noticed it slipping.

"One of them is our friend Ecklie...it's Gil in there!" She shot him a look and her voice spoke volumes.

"Willows, I'm aware of the situation but right now, we have two hostages, one apparent victim...we either keep our witts about us or I'm pulling you from this..." she spun around on him in an instant.

"Don't even go there Conrad...I'm not leaving here unless it's to accompany Grissom to the hospital do I make myself perfectly clear?' she'd step into his space and he'd been forced to back up two steps. All he could do was nod in agreement, he was smart enough not to cross her this time.

"Okay, let's see what we can find out" Warrick placed the computer in front of them and watched the two men arguing.

"You idiot...you stupid, dumb, fucking idiot...why'd you go and shoot him...he's not even armed!" TZ was the one screaming in Julio's face.

"You shot him too dumbass...he's got two wounds" he moved toward Grissom, took the toe of his boot and roughly shoved him over and motioned to the wound on his thigh. "This was your handiwork you asshole!" he waved his own gun around. TZ had apparently dropped his gun or put it away because from what Brass could make out, his hands were now empty.

"We gotta do something, we can't just let him die." he leaned over, took the bandana off his own head and went about tying a tourniquet around Grissom's upper thigh, he heard the older man moan in pain. "He's not dead yet...he's not dead but he's having problems breathing.." he carefully inspected the entry wound under Gil's left arm. "Man...it's bad, it's really bad!" he was just about crying. "Don't just stand there Julio...you gotta get him help!" his voice was near panic.

"I'm not going down for no cop killing..." Julio paced even quicker and put the gun against his chin as if he were deep in thought. "We gotta think...we got two hostages...them cops out there, they gotta negotiate with us..." his wheels were spinning now. "We can force them to make a deal!"

"No way man...he ain't dead but he's gonna be soon...he's not getting much air now...Julio ya gotta give it up...we're surrounded, most them guys out there are probably his friends...we can't do this...if we give up now, he's still alive...it counts for something...we keep this going..." he was sobbing now and had pulled off his tee shirt and pressed it to the wound on Grissom's side.

Catherine, Brass and Conrad were stunned, they'd learned that for the moment Gil was still alive but if the one man was right, his time was running out. Nick had brought the mother's of two of the boys down to the scene and he could immediately see Orville's Mother was screaming at him but using her hands to sign the words that were coming from her now.

"What were you thinking? Have I raised you so wrong? Is this what you do while I'm out trying to make a life for us? You're no better than your Father!" the disappointed looks were evident. "You did this., you cost an innocent man his life...you are such a disappointment to me!" she was nearing tears but her son had already been crying a river.

"I'm so sorry Momma...I'm sorry, it's Julio's fault. He was gonna shoot me..."

"Who's fault is it?" she watched his mouth as his excuses poured fourth. "You joined the gang! You came here today to rob an innocent man! You chose to return with your friends!" she watched the police officers around her. "You made these decisions without using the head God gave you!" She slapped at him and Brass stopped her.

"We have to take him downtown now Mrs. Morales, the officer can take you with but he's being booked as an adult because of the situation." she nodded in understanding.

"I'm so sorry...I wish to God this never happened" she put a hand on Brass' shoulder and squeezed. "That man didn't deserve to die because of my son..." she walked away shaking her head. Brass didn't correct her but he prayed to God that she would be wrong and Gil would make it.

Sara was sitting on the beach in Malibu, watching the sunbathers and the surfers taking their boards into the rising surf. She felt renewed as of late and had contemplated placing a call to Gil that night. She hadn't called him when she arrived and with the exception of seeing three of four of her long lost friends, she hadn't really contacted anyone and she was suddenly swept with a feeling of unease that she couldn't pin point. "I should have called you" she spoke to a picture she withdrew from her wallet. "I guess I'm just afraid that hearing your voice will make me want to come home..." she continued talking to his likeness and didn't notice the two uniforms walking up to her.

"Miss Sidle?" the female officer inquired. Sara shaded her eyes and looked up realizing there were two uniforms standing over her. She quickly rose.

"Yes, I'm Sara Sidle" she tucked Gil's picture back in her purse and withdrew her wallet. "Is there something wrong?"

"Do you know a Gil Grissom?" she nodded and suddenly felt angry., she didn't' think that he would stoop so low as to have friends on the department look for her and she suddenly thought that perhaps he had put Brass up to it. She understood that it had been months since she'd spoken to either of them, both were not exactly thrilled with her sudden departure but she felt sure, until that minute that Grissom had understood her need to leave.

"Yes!" her voice was a quandary of anger and exasperation. "I can't believe he had you find me!" she tossed her purse over her arm and fished for her cell phone. "Wait until I give him a piece of my mind he probably had Captain Brass put out an APB...wonder when he decided to do that!" she was raving now and the young female officer held up her hand.

"Mr. Grissom didn't...You need to come with us..." she gently reached for Sara's arm and was surprised when the much taller woman pulled away.

"Why? I told them that I needed time to get away...what the hell could be so damned important...?" she looked up into their eyes and suddenly something clicked, something was terribly wrong... "What exactly is going on?" she stood her ground.

"There's been an incident...back in Vegas, we were instructed to find you and fly you home" she motioned to a helicopter coming over the cliff behind them. It took Sara a full moment to realize that one of the officer's had apparently stepped away and radioed their success in finding her.

"What kind of incident?" Sara was not going to head home blindly and put her hand up as she pulled the cell phone from her purse and punched in Grissom's number. The phone simply rang and rang... Realizing he must be at a call or home in bed, she tried Jim's number and got him on the first ring. "What's going on Brass?" her voice was full of angst.

"Cookie, are there officers with you?" his voice was soft and low but as he spoke he nodded to Catherine that they'd succeeded in finding Sara.

"Yes, I was at the beach, now I've got cops crawling up my ass, a helicopter on the beach and plenty of witnesses that make me look like a fugitive...care to explain this?" she felt her blood pressure rising with each passing minute. "I don't get it, all I ask if for a little time away..."

"Cookie…., Sidle, shut up!" he couldn't find a way to make her close her mouth long enough to tell her what needed to be said. "Get on the damned helicopter and stop asking questions!" his voice was a commanding boom.

"Look, I asked for some time, the least the two of you can do…" she heard something in the background and Brass apparently handed his phone over to Catherine.

"Sara, you need to get your ass on that helicopter if you ever hope to see Grissom again!" Sara pulled the phone from her ear and looked incredulously at the screen. "Grissom's in the middle of a hostage situation, he's been shot, twice…..he's still in., he's still being….just get on the fucking helicopter Sidle…now!" she clicked the phone closed before Sara could argue.

Sara felt her legs start to buckle and the male officer caught her "Come on, we have orders to get you to the airport and the plane is on standby" she nodded weakly.

"How bad is it?" she inquired, the female officer shook her head. "Pretty bad if the government sent a personal plane to bring you back." It had to have been David's father that arranged that….Sara wasn't sure but right now, she was too stunned to say more….she allowed herself to be led to the chopper, strapped in and the officers signaled the pilot to take off, stepped back out of the path of the rotors and gave Sara the thumbs up then crossed himself.

Sara watched the beach become a small speck, the water disappear as the chopper turned and headed back in the direction it had come from..


	28. Chapter 28

There were bright lights, not the kind you see in Heaven he was sure, but then again, maybe he wasn't sure because he'd never died, never gone to Heaven and was sure that at least until now, he'd never been close enough to even consider the possibility.

He was pretty sure that they didn't have florescent bulbs there though because well, God was an infinite powerful being...and well, why would someone that created Heaven and Earth with their bare hands...'_Did they say bare hands in the bible? Does God have hands? Does he need hands?_' these thoughts invaded his mind and they were welcomed. At least for the time being, while all these questions were going through his head like a marquise sign on a Broadway show...he wasn't thinking about the pain in his leg or the fact that with each wheezing breath, his ability to suck air was greatly decreasing.

He was back to the florescent bulbs again. The colors that could be deciphered when one looked at them through squinted eyes at first made him think of a rainbow but then, he thought about butterflies, all the pretty colors they came in, how they flashed their wings while seeking out a mate, how they slowly opened and closed, open and closed...'_breath in, breath out., breath in, breath out_' he tried to get his mind back on the butterflies, it hurt less.

He started with the periodic tables., they always kept his mind calm in situations beyond his control, when he was dealing with Conrad Ecklie, when he was trying to keep his cool during an interview with a pedophile or a wife beater...he hated wife beaters, they made him think of families torn apart, they made him think of children left behind...they made him think of 'Sara' ... '_breath in, breath out...wheeeeeeze., breath in, breath out...wheeze_.." '_don't go there Gil you don't want to go there Gil_!'

He heard talking, yelling, screaming and felt someone touch his leg. The pain was indescribable. It wasn't as bad as the pain in his chest '_breath in...wheeeeze...breath out...wheeezee...pause, swallow...more pain!_" Someone lifted his arm slightly and it had been his first instinct to hiss in pain, but he found he wasn't able to, he couldn't make noise but heard it...he heard wheezing and wondered if the person touching him was asthmatic until he listened again and realized the wheezing noise was coming each time he tried to take a breath...'_breath in...breath out...getting harder.._...'

He knew without a doubt then that the searing, burning pain in his chest had to have been the bullet he'd heard discharging from Julio's weapon. '_Dying...breath in...dying slowly...breath in, breath...breath, in.. out...wheeze...pain...breath in, breath out...pain...wheezing...pain..._" if he could slow the breathing, he could slow the wheezing, if he could control the wheezing, he could control the pain...

He thought of Jim, he'd been shot...he survived, did he struggle to breath? Did he wheeze between breaths? Did he know he was close to dying? Did he talk to God? Did he think about those he loved, those he tried to love, those that he should have loved? Did he think about those he might leave behind? Did it bother him that he almost didn't get to say goodbye? Did he think about...his thoughts returned to Sara. Sara leaving him...Sara...what would she do? She'd been kidnapped, buried alive, left for dead. Did she struggle to breath? Did the weight of the car make her feel like her lungs were about to explode? '_breath in...gasp...wheeze...gasp...breath in, breath out...gasp...gasp..._" His Sara, he loved her...

Did he tell her before she left? He hadn't before he'd disappeared on his sabbatical, but he was sure, well he hoped he was sure, he was almost sure that he'd told her over and over and showed her that he loved her more than life itself...but she left him., said it wasn't him, it wasn't about him...it was not about them but she left...she didn't say goodbye, didn't say she'd miss him...he said that, he told her he'd miss her...

She never called, she left, didn't say goodbye, didn't tell him she'd miss him and didn't call...he didn't know where she was. Did she get where she was going? Did she know where she needed to go? Did she find the answers she thought she needed to find? Was she happy? '_Breath...so hard...gasp...pain...pain...pain...burning...sucking noises, wheezing...coming from him...he...he couldn't...could...not...breath...I can't dooooo thisssssssss anymore..._'

He felt someone shaking him, someone yelling at him not to die...was it Sara? Jim..he'd be pissed off if he died, especially since it was Grissom that made him go through surgery, made him survive even if he didn't want to...

Catherine? She'd be upset, happy that eventually she got his office but probably pissed because she'd wind up with Grave instead of Days which she really wanted...

Warrick? He hadn't seen him in a few days but he knew...because Gil Grissom knew what love felt like...looked like...he knew that Warrick was harboring feelings for Catherine and that she was feeling something too...

Nick? He hoped it wasn't Nick, he wasn't sure that Nicky could handle watching him die...he had almost watched Nick die...it had nearly killed him, especially when he read Nick's lips and saw him praying he never disappointed Grissom.. "You never did...Nicky...you never did!" he whispered the words he once uttered while watching his friend, his co-worker, his subordinate...Sara...'_Breath ...in...out...in...in...oh God...I can't breath in...out...blow out...empty your lungs, empty your lungs...breath in..try to fill your empty lungs...breath...dammit...breath Grissom._...'

He thought of Greg Sanders, he was proud of him, he was happy that Greg hadn't been dissuaded by the decrease in pay from being a Lab Rat to becoming a CSI., it meant the job was more important to him then monetary gain. He was secretly thrilled with the way Sara...'_don't think of Sara, you have to survive, you have to see if she comes back, you have to wait...you promised you would wait...no matter how long it took...time...hours, minutes...how long have I been down? How long have I been laying here on the floor? How much blood have I lost?_'

Why was he asking so many questions of himself? _Was this normal? Was this what they meant when they claimed 'Your life flashes before your eyes!_" He pictured his life before., solitary, alone...empty...no love...no one to come home to...now he had...well, he used to have Sara...beautiful, glorious, lovely Sara...but he had a boxer., a big sable colored boxer named Bruno...not the same, warm body...but not Sara... '_I need Sara...get Sar...a...please..._" he wheezed out to the person leaning beside him...

"Who's Sara? Grissom?" the young man read his name tag on his vest. "Who's Sara? How do I call her? Do you have a cellphone?" he patted down Gil's pockets and located the phone in his pants "Sara, what's Sara's last name...?" he spoke next to Gil's ear...his voice full of panic as he scrolled through the screen with Grissom's phone book on it.

"Si...Sid...Sidle...Saraaaa Sidle" he wheezed out with ever struggling breaths.

He located the name, pressed the button and held the phone to his ear. When the voice on the other end of the line came on, it was filled with panic, tears and something else that TZ wasn't able to put his finger on...

"Grissom? Gil...Gilbert Grissom is that you? What the hell is going on...?" she was screaming into the phone...

"Is this Sara?" TZ whispered. "Sara Sidle?" he waited as the person on the other end of the phone took in that he apparently wasn't who she wanted to speak to.

"Who is this? Where is Gil Grissom? Why do you have his phone? Is he there? Is he okay?" the questions wouldn't stop.

"He's not doing too well, he's been asking for you...hang on...talk to him, I'll put the phone by his ear..." he did as he said he would, put the phone volume up, put the phone next to the Criminalist's ear and yelled "Talk to him...now!"

"Grissom...Gil...Gilbert can you hear me...? Please, you're scaring me...I'm coming...I'm on my way home...hang on Honey...hold on...I'm coming Gil...I'm coming., I'm so sorry I left, I'm sorry I didn't call you...I'm sorry for so many things...Please Baby...you promised you would wait for me...please hang on...I'm coming...I'm almost home..." but she heard only his wheezing, struggling labored breathing and then...nothing!


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: You all rock! What a wonderful feeling to have so many enjoying this story. I wanted to write for a long time but I don't think I've ever taken it this far before...and of course there is still more to come, Thanks for the awesome reviews..they make my day and of course, make me type faster. My head is leaking with ideas...back to the keys..

Disclaimer: Sue me...I'll get Brass to kick your...!

She felt the chopper tilt and wheel with the increase of the winds around the rotors as it made it's decent. The pilot turned toward her and smiled warmly. "Sorry so bumpy, winds picked up about 15 minutes ago, normally I wouldn't attempt a landing but I have explicit orders to get you here as soon as possible, not about to ignore Uncle Sam ya know!" he shouted over the din. The look on Sara's face bordered on being green from yet another ride in a helicopter to which she thought back years ago when they had the case of the woman and her boyfriend who staged her kidnapping only to have him turn around and bury her in the desert in hopes of collecting the ransom money for himself. The ride had been made more tolerable at the time because Gil had been beside her the entire time. When they'd finally landed, dug up the supposed victim, Gil had caressed her cheek in concern...how she wished he was here right now but instead, she was flying blindly into a situation in which no one had fully filled her in with the exception of telling her to get there and fast...

Thinking she might get more answers she motioned to the pilot for permission to use her cell. "Don't know how much you'll hear, you should probably just wait till we touch down in 3 minutes." his voice was still raised and she wondered half heartedly if perhaps he perpetually shouted because of his profession. She folded the phone and tucked it back in a pocket.

Three minutes later true to his word he set the machine down with a final bone jarring thud and cut the engine. "Been nice flying with you Ma'am" he saluted her then motioned to the tarmac where a military plane was waiting, she assumed it was for her. The pilot ran out to meet her at the chopper and opened the door on her side then offered his hand to help her down. "Miss Sidle?" he smiled up at her.

"I'm...Sar...Sara Sidle, yes..." she allowed him to help balance her by placing her hand on his shoulder as he put his on her waist. "Thanks" she gave him a gapped tooth grin as her feet finally settled on solid ground once again. "I hate helicopters!" she waved back to her original pilot, ducked to avoid the rotors and continued following the uniformed man in front of her. "Will I be able to use my cell phone on the flight?" she hoped he would agree and felt a sudden fear when he shook his head no. "Won't get any reception on one of these tin cans I'm afraid" he motioned to the aircraft "too many instruments, too much electrical shit!" he grinned. "You need a few minutes?" he motioned to the building across from the waiting plane and suggested lightly "Maybe you need to make a pit stop?" he hinted casually and she got his meaning.

"Thanks...thanks allot" she ran, head ducked toward the building. When she got inside, she looked in the mirror and realized she had no make up on, not that it was a huge concern, she usually wore very little and since her recent trip, really hadn't bothered, the sun kissed coloring of her skin looked different compared to her normally pale 'I work the midnight shift' pallor. Grabbing the phone she quickly dialed the lab and got David Hodges for her efforts.

"Hodges, it's Sidle...what's going on? Make it brief I have a plane on standby" she heard David cover the phone and say something. Wendy pulled it from him and she overhead the ensuing argument. "Someone just put the damned phone to your ears already, I'm running out time here!" she screamed into the mouthpiece. Wendy took the call.

"Sara...omg the lab has been going crazy trying to find you" any futher suspicion that Gil was behind it was quickly alleviated. "Brass has had Archie and Greg searching cross country for you. Where the hell are you?" she was near panic.

"I'm just outside of LA, I'm on my way home but what the hell is going on?" Wendy covered the phone and winced, apparently, when they summoned the CSI home, they failed to tell her exactly what she was walking into..."Wendy, talk to me...please, I know it's about Gi...Grissom, I know he's been injured...I don't know much more than that...please, tell me!" she was begging now.

"Gil was shot...twice during a holdup or something, I'm not exactly sure of all the details., all I know is he's apparently still a hostage, no one knows exactly how bad off he is...Catherine and Brass are working on freeing him...Ecklie's there to, he okayed the lab to use the resources to find you, David's Dad assisted with the transportation as you probably guessed...Sara...he's bad, that's really all I know, he's really bad..." she was in tears now...for a friend who might not get there in time and a boss who...God she didn't even want to think about it. "Just hurry!" Sara closed her phone, tapped it against her lip to gain her composure and fled the ladies room. The pilot was still waiting, military stance but a hint of a smile when he saw her.

"Ready to go?" he motioned toward the steps.

Sara couldn't smile anymore, the tears that had threatened to overtake her earlier were there in full force and the young man simply gripped her arm and led her blindly up the stairs as he offered her tissue. "Thanks...I'm sorry, I'm blubbering like an idiot..." she dabbed at her eyes, blew her nose and promptly took the seat she was directed to. Strapping in she put her head back and closed her eyes.

For the first time in months, she questioned herself on the real purpose of having left Vegas, Gil and everything behind. She loved him, God yes, she had loved him since the beginning...she wanted to marry him, would gladly carry his last name and finally put Sidle to rest if he preferred...but what if he'd changed? What if her having not contacted him had made him change his mind? Maybe he didn't want to marry her anymore...wouldn't he have tried to contact her if he really loved her? Wouldn't he have had Brass try before this?...No, no she'd asked him for time and Gil had promised he would wait...he promised! But now what? What if she got there too late? Would the rest of the team blame her? Would Brass ever be able to look her in the eye again? He'd sounded angry when he called her...but she brushed it off as being the situation...but what if? What if he was so mad at her, if he lost his best friend, he'd probably hate her, Catherine would. She could easily picture the blonde blaming this all on her.

The plane was in the air for awhile, the thoughts and memories had her crying most of the time. The co-pilot had passed her a box of tissues and a plastic bag to deposit her used one in but other than that, hadn't really spoken to her. She'd been left to wallow in her own misery. When the plane finally landed toward the hangar section of McCarran airport, she could see flashing lights of a waiting squad as she descended the steps. Turning to the pilot and co-pilot she gave a brief thanks than ran toward the waiting SUV. Nicky was standing there, with Greg waiting for her and the minute he spotted her, Nicky was running in her direction, arms opened wide.

"Oh My God Sara, it's so good to see you.." he picked her up and hugged her to him. "You look fantastic!" he put her down and Sara could see the worry on his and Greg's face. Greg gave her a hug but it was more reserved. Sara gave him a questioning look.

"Sorry" he shrugged putting his hands back into his pockets. "We have to go Nick!" he turned back to the vehicle and walked away. Sara looked at Nick who simply shrugged his own shoulders then put a hand on her arm.

"It's been...different" he moved to the vehicle "Without you here...the lab, the people.." he got in and waited for her to join him. Greg had left her the front passenger seat and climbed in back where he kept his eyes on her but remained silent. Sara could feel his gaze boring into the back of her head.

"Just say it Greg!" she turned, eyes full of tears. "Tell me how this is all my fault, how if I'd been there, this...whatever it is...this wouldn't have happened!" she shouted., she needed to release the pent up tension and his attitude wasn't helping. "Tell me how I shouldn't have left, how I let everyone including Grissom down..." she continued and didn't notice that Nick had slid his hand onto her thigh until she felt him squeeze it gently. Greg turned his head and stared out the window. How do you tell someone something they've just acknowledged themselves. He knew he wasn't being fair but just the same...it had hurt when she left. It had hurt more than just Grissom., it had shaken the team to its very core and right now, he just couldn't forgive her for that...even if it wasn't justified, Greg needed to be angry as well. He had his target!

The rest of the drive was in silence, Nick mindlessly drawing small soothing circles on her thigh, Greg staring out the window, arms crossed in defiance and Sara sitting there wondering what the next hours would hold. When they drew up to the liquor store, Brass was there to greet her. Warrick came over and gave her a supportive hug and Catherine smiled and touched her arm.

"I'm glad you made it back..." she pulled Sara along with her to the vehicle that had been their base since this started. "Grissom answered a call for what was supposed to be a B&E, I offered to go with him, so did the others., didn't think it was necessary." she looked to make sure Sara was following her. "Brass was with him but then got a call for a missing child...turned out to be a hoax and no, as far as we can tell the two were not related." she continued. "Brass left him, he had one officer for backup so he felt it was okay to leave, when he came back, hell has come to Vegas, three perps returned, all armed, two with weapons one with a knife" she was reciting from memory. "Apparently Gil managed to talk one of them into leaving...when he tried to flee the leader tried to take him down...and Grissom was shot, once in the leg, and from what the perp we apprehended told us, he took a shot under the armpit...missed his vest...yes he was wearing it, has since you left" she smiled reassuringly.

Sara's hand shot to her mouth. "How is he?" Catherine led her to the monitor where they could still see him laying there, one of the perps leaning over him tending to his wounds.

"He hasn't moved since the leader pushed him onto his back, I don't know Sara...I honestly don't know...the blood pool has gotten bigger" they could see a dark stain under Gil's body. "But we've had no communication since. No demands, no nothing!" she saw Sara turn to Brass.

"Why are we standing around? Someone needs to go in there and talk them out., talk them into letting us get medical help for Grissom!" she was distraught but keeping it together for now.

"Cookie, we're waiting for the oldest one's Mother..." just then a squad car pulled up and a heavy Hispanic lady got out and walked along side the police that accompanied her. "That must be her" he turned toward the woman in question.

Sara was right along side him as he moved to the older woman "Your son has one of my men in there!" he pointed to the front of the store where you could still make out the fallen shape of Gil Grissom "I need to get to him, do you think you can talk him out?" She nodded.

"I'm sorry sir, I don't know what Julio was thinking about….he's a good boy.." she knew the Policeman in front of her had his doubts but her son was her son. "If you let me talk to him, I'm sure I can get him to…." she burst into tears. "I cannot believe that he's done this…he shot the man didn't he?" Brass nodded. "I'm so sorry….he's done other things but never has he ever shot someone before."

The three of them made their way to the front door. Brass picked up a bullhorn and called to the men inside "Julio, your Mother is here, you have a chance to make this situation better, you need to give yourself up, and you need to release the injured man…NOW!" his voice was booming through the device and Sara stared through the glass doors.


	30. Chapter 30

"He's not moving!" she stood, her arms across her chest, hands clenched in fists. "He's not moving...how long has he?" she saw the dark pool of blood that started from just under his arm, his shirt was soaked with the dark liquid. "Brass please...let me go in there" his hand stopped her forward momentum.

"No Sara..." his voice was soft but authoritative. "First of all, I can't give them three hostages, secondly, Gil would have my ass if something happened to you...I just can't risk it." Julio's Mother picked up the bullhorn trying to figure out how it worked. In a matter of moments she'd apparently figured it out and started saying something in Spanish. Julio's head shot up and he came to the front door, gun still in his hand.

"Momma? Momma what are you doing here?" his eyes were wide and wild. He looked at the two people beside his mother and then back to the man laying on the floor. "Momma it was an accident...honestly" he was pleading through the glass as Sara stared first at him and then at Brass.

"Julio, you disappoint me...you shot an innocent man for what?" the Mother wrung her hands nervously "You need to come out of there right now!" she stomped her foot for emphasis. "Now Julio...that man died for what?"

"He's not dead Momma., not yet...but he's pretty bad from what TZ says" the other man was still leaning over Gil talking to him but getting no response, no grunts, groans no sign that he was conscious let alone still alive. "TZ that man still alive?" he called back to the other boy sitting next to Gil.

"He's alive, barely...Julio man, he's lost a ton of blood" he held up his hands for emphasis..."He's bad man...really bad...we gotta end this..." he was crying now, afraid that any moment his own mother would show up. This wasn't how his day was supposed to go down, he was gonna make a little cash, walk in, walk out and be done with it, now he was looking at a possible murder charge. "Julio please...it wasn't supposed to go down this way...come on, let them get their friend out..." he stood up and walked over to Julio with his hand out "Just give me the gun Julio...please, just hand me the gun"

Julio looked down at his weapon, Sara wondered why Brass didn't just take him out...but knew the answer in her head, it was her heart that was talking. '_Give him the gun...please please just give him the damned gun...just a few more steps...come on...give him the gun and let me get to Gil...come on...take the gun away from him...please let's just end this_...' she was repeating this like it was a mantra...TZ advanced on the older boy and put his hand out one more time...

"Just let this end Bro, let this end..." Julio looked up at him, tears filled his eyes as he looked between the gun, the fallen man, his mother and the boy he considered his best friend. "Don't make it worse...end it while he's still alive..." he whispered as his hand closed over the barrel of the gun. The gun was in TZ's hand, the doors were forced open and Brass went to gather the weapons, Sara flew toward Gil and landed on the ground next to him. "I tried to stop the bleeding" TZ turned toward her, I got the leg stopped but that one...the one under his arm...it's bleeding bad, he was barely breathing..." his voice was full of fear.

"Grissom?" she touched the side of his face, it was cold and clammy "Gil...Grissom...Gil..it's Sara..." she looked up at Brass "Medic, we need a medic now!" she was feeling for a pulse while trying to listen to see if he was breathing. She wondered if this was how he felt when he watched and waited for her response when they finally found her after the kidnapping. "Gil please...please it's Sara...I made it...I made it home, I'm so sorry, I should never have left you..." Greg, Nick and Warrick were standing over her now as the Medics moved in to begin what they could.

"Desert Palms, we have a 52 year old white male who sustained two gunshot wounds, one to the leg, one under the left armpit area" they started wrapping a blood pressure cuff on one arm, leads to the heart monitor were glued to his chest after they ripped open his vest and shirt. His skin color was almost gray and she gasped when she saw the full extent of the wound now displayed for everyone to see. She fell backwards away from him for a moment as the air threatened to cease going into her lungs and she wondered now how hard it had been for him to watch this in reverse.

"Grissom...hold on...please, you promised to wait for me...you said you understood why I had to go...please, I came home...I came back...Gil" Warrick had crouched down along with Conrad Ecklie and both were trying to help her to her feet. "Please...please" she turned up her "You don't understand...you have to help him...I'm okay...I'm okay..." she grasped both of their arms and wound up embraced by Ecklie who for once in his life let his heart rule over his head.

"Shhhhhh...Sara...it's okay, they're gonna do what they can...come on...we'll go to the hospital..." she shook her head and tried to pull away.

"I have to go with him...you don't understand., he was there with me in the helicopter., he held my hand...he never let me go, never believed that I wouldn't make it...I have to be there for him, I have to do the same...I need to go with him..." Conrad looked at the Medics who had loaded him on a gurney and were heading out to the life flight helicopter waiting in the parking lot. Sara never even heard it come in and land.… "She's his fiancé, you got room for one more?" it was really more of a statement than a question but Ecklie wasn't looking for a fight today. The first medic nodded in agreement and after they'd pushed the gurney into the helicopter, he turned toward Sara and gave her a boost inside.

"Okay ! Let's rock and roll!" he motioned to the pilot to lift off. Sara promised herself that this was going to be the last helicopter ride she ever took. They worked at a frantic pace, inserting IV lines, checking vitals and relaying them to the hospital as they flew through the Vegas sky. Sara sat there, eyes never leaving his face which was half hidden by the oxygen mask. She was simply willing him to live. She promised him in her thoughts to never leave him again…never leave Vegas if this was where he wanted to stay. She talked to God, prayed like she had when she'd awoke to find herself buried and pinned under that car only this time the prayers weren't for her., they were for the man who's very life depended on the generosity of some Higher Power. She reached out and took his hand, much like he had done with hers and held on trying to pass her strength to home. His hand was cold and unmoving and she willed him to give her some sign, a small sign, anything that would let her know he was still there.

"He's barely breathing….Roger that!" the medic relayed to the hospital, "We've got oxygen on him right now but his saturation levels are less than 40…Roger that!" . Sara watched an listened hoping her face would betray none of the terror she was feeling. "He was shot in the right thigh, leg wound bleeding has been halted by a tourniquet but I have no time line for it having been applied…Roger that!" His hands moved to the wound under Grissom's left arm, they'd padded and packed it to staunch the bleeding but even now, she could see the cotton was soaked and saturated with the crimson flow of life.

"How much longer?" she held his hand rubbing his knuckles with her thumb. The medic looked up and tried to smile but she knew from the grim look on his face that things were looking drastically perilous at best.

"ETA is approximately 3 minutes, they have a vascular team standing by" he reached a hand out to her and rested it over both of hers and Grissom's. "Don't give up., honey, I was on the team that brought you home" her eyes opened wide that he should remember her. "He held on for dear life….never let go of your hand till he was forced to at the hospital…but he never gave up….don't you dare give up on him!" he squeezed their hands and went back to working on Gil's prone form.

They landed on the heliport and doctors and nurses swarmed them like a mob of angry bees. She held his hand the entire time, the words of the medic going through her head. She ran along side as they moved in first into the elevator and then down to the surgical floor. One of the head nurses turned to her "You need to say your 'see ya later" now….we have to get going." she touched Sara's arm and watched as she leaned over and kissed him one last time.

"I love you Gilbert Grissom…..I came home…and you owe me a wedding…." she kissed him one last time and felt someone take her by the arm….it was agonizing to have to let go of his hand…… Gil was shuttled off behind doors marked Surgery while she was gently led to the family waiting room. The entire crew including Ecklie were there.

"How is he?" Nick came up along side of her and wrapped an arm around her for the obvious support her tired frame needed.

"They whisked him away to surgery….he never regained consciousness in the medivac" she was in tears and could barely make out the words. Catherine joined Nick and helped move her to the sofa. She wrapped a supportive arm around Sara's lean body and sat next to her as they lowered her to the seat.

"Gil's strong, I'm sure he knows you're here Sara…. He won't give up…he didn't give up on finding you and he won't give up fighting to get back to you….he loves you…he always has and always will and I think that's what kept him alive…this far." she hugged the youngest woman and noticed as Sara started to shiver.

"Warrick, find a nurse and tell her we need warm blankets in here, Greg…" he looked up, still unsure of how exactly he felt about everything but attentive to Catherine's commands. "Go and find some hot tea, Sara needs to get something in her right now!" she saw his hesitation and shot him a daring glance, she'd deal with his attitude later.

Nick brought over several pillows he'd found in the closet and Ecklie stood in front of them. "As of now, Days and Swing will cover your shift…you're all on standby but only if something big comes up. Sara if there's anything I can do….anything you need….don't hesitate to let me know. Has anyone contacted family?'

Sara looked up, her eyes ghosts of their former self, circles forming under them and smiled weakly "I'm the only family that Gil has….besides this team…." she swallowed and suddenly lost all control. The tears poured like rain, the sobs racked her already exhausted body and she couldn't hold it in anymore. "I should have never left him….this is all my fault!" she moaned just as Greg returned with the tea. He was about to say something when the look he received from Ecklie and Catherine simultaneously shut him up.

"Listen to me" Brass came over and knelt in front of her "your leaving had nothing to do with any of this whatsoever, Grissom getting shot was not your fault Cookie, he walked into a simple B&E and it went wrong, the only ones responsible are the ones that pulled the trigger" and with his next words he looked at Conrad "And the two asshole cops that let the three perps get back in that store…I want their badges!" he stood up but kept his palm under her chin. Conrad nodded.

"I promise all of you, I'll look into this….and if I find…" Catherine cut him off immediately and handed him a small package from inside her vest.

"You WILL find them negligent, this is a sample of powder sugar from Formansky's tie…I lifted it myself, timed and dated it…they were across the street in the fucking donut shop when this went down., I have statements from the employees" she produced her memo pad "I have eyewitnesses to the fact that they stopped in long enough for coffee and a donut….I think I have enough to bury their asses for a long time Conrad but I will expect you to make examples out of them…." he nodded in agreement and took the memo pad and package from her hands.

Sara stared into space taking none of this in. She was shivering even under the pile of blankets that Warrick had brought back and wrapped around her. "Cath…I think we need a doctor here" he saw her eyes start to close, roll and her led loll back. "Now!" he supported her as best he could. Nick ran out to catch the nurse he knew was behind the desk.

"We need help now…!" he screamed as he made his way toward her. "One of our CSI's just collapsed, we need a doctor!"


	31. Chapter 31

Gil was trying to figure out how it was he'd returned to his childhood home. The whitewashed exterior, gingham curtains that hung in the windows along with the rocker on the front porch, it was all there, just as he'd left it...when...when he went off to school, when he came back to visit, when he left if for the last time after his Mother had passed away...but he was back. Looking closely at the clapboard siding, it amazed him that there was no chipped and peeling paint, no signs of age even to the eyes of someone that spent their lives looking for imperfections and telltale signs. The house looked just like it had when he was 8 years old...

His mother was beautiful, even back then. The kids made fun of him and her for talking in signs but her deafness, while proving a challenge to those outside the family had only added an aspect of his life that made his time with her feel even more special. He'd taught himself to sign so that they could communicate in their special language. His father was hard pressed to learn himself and on days when he would forget that his wife was hearing impaired, he would stand shouting as if he expected her to suddenly hear him. Gil would come forth and remind him "Momma can't hear you Dad, don't you remember?" The older man usually replied with a grunt, made his way to the old refrigerator and helped himself to the beer that was kept stocked inside.

The yard didn't look any different either. There was the tree house, half finished that his father never seemed to have time for anymore and then their was his makeshift lab. It was really the tool shed that had sad abandoned when his father decided he'd rather pay the kid down the street to cut the lawn then invest in a mower and either do it himself or allow Gil the pleasure. Gil had asked his Mother's permission and since she was well aware of his little experiments and autopsies that he'd been performing on carcasses of roadkill, she was more agreeable to having him set up shop out there than to allowing him to perform them in her house.

Gil wandered around the property and spotted one of their old time neighbors Mr. Janesworth., funny, he could have sworn that the old man had passed away just about his 9th birthday., right around the same time that his own Father had died. He was still doing a cursory look around when the door opened and she spotted his Mom setting out a laundry basket of wet clothes, gathering her clothespin bag and heading out to the clotheslines that her Husband had installed for her. "Cheaper than buying one of them new fangled drying things!" he'd barked while tying the lines securely and pulling out any slack. His Mother had adapted and actually looked forward to slipping in between crisp air dried sheets.

He was even more at a loss when his Father came out with his usual evening paper and sat down on the rocker to catch up on the day's news.

"Momma?" he called forgetting that she wouldn't be able to hear him, but surely the old man should have recognized his own son's voice yet he didn't even seem to notice Gil walking around the property. "Dad?" he called to the old man who continued flipping pages and folding the different sections of paper so they'd be easier to maneuver. Gil moved in closer, actually was standing about a toe's length from the wooden floor boards of the porch and only 2 feet from the old man when he called to him yet again. "Dad...it's me, it's Gilbert" his Father didn't cotton to calling people by anything but their given names and when Gil had tried to insist that he call him Gil instead of Gilbert because it made him feel more grown up, a slap to the ears made him realize that his father would do as he damned well pleased.

There was still no response so Gil walked up the one step, moved closer and attempted to touch the old man's shoulder... "What the fuck?" he swore softly to himself when his hand wouldn't make contact with the other man's skin. "Dad!" his voice raised to shout and he wildly waved his hand in front of the old man's face. "Say something for God sake" he was yelling now. "Dad it's me, Gilbert!" he was near panic that he could see the old man, hear his words but for some reason, the same could not be said for the opposite situation.

"He can't hear you!" he felt a soft hand grip his arm. "He can't hear me either...he's in another 'zone' his Mother gently embraced him and he could feel the warmth invading his body. "Gilbert, I've missed you so much...how have you been doing?" she took his hand and led him to a set of chairs on the opposite side of the house. Gil kept looking back to the oblivious man they were leaving sitting alone on the front porch.

"I'm fine...how is this possible? You're Dead Momma...I was there, I saw you die, I saw them bury you" his eyes were wide with panic and terror. "I'm going crazy" his hands came up to cover his mouth. "I had to have lost my mind, I'm talking to the dead!" he was about to back away when she smiled. "You're talking to the dead, yes...but that's because you're dead as well" Gil lost the ability to breath and landed heavily on the chair he'd just vacated.

"No! No I can't be dead...I just started to live...I have Sara now, I waited so long to have her...but I have Sara now...I don't want to be dead.., I want another chance..." his voice filled with sadness as he pulled away from his Mom. "Please...go away, make this all go away..I need to wake up, I need to see Sara, I think she came back...I'm sure she did, I felt her holding my hand...I think I was in a helicopter and, well it was after I got shot twice" he attempted to show his mother the two wounds but they were not there. "I'm telling you I was shot, once in the thigh" he looked down at his leg. "And once under here!" he pointed as he lifted his arm above his head. "What is happening to me? Why am I here?" he looked at his Mother expecting answers.

"Sara suffered so much in her short life!" his Mother acted like she was reading a book as she spoke "She waited for you...for years, she wanted to be with you but you were afraid" her eyes landed on him "Why were you so afraid Gil?" she waited for him to answer.

"I want to go back...I need to be with Sara!" he wasn't about to answer personal questions on about his fiance without her being there herself. "I asked Sara to marry me, she said yes, we were getting ready to plan our wedding" his Mother nodded as if what he was saying was not news to her. "You know that I've loved her for years...but.."

His Mother smiled "Wasn't she worth the risk my dear?" she stood up and headed into the house without a backwards glance. Gil assumed he was supposed to follow and did so. The inside of the house hadn't changed, he felt like he was 8 again, returning home from a day at school where him and his Mother would sit and talk about everything he did and saw.

"I was afraid that her love would destroy me!" he walked to the kitchen table, pulled out a chair and plunked himself down in it.

"And what changed your mind?" She reached the fridge, pulled out a pitcher of iced tea and proceeded to pour two glasses after removing the glassware from the cabinet.

"I realized that without her, my life was nothing, that I wasn't living until I was with her...that's why you have to get me back...I finally found out what it was like to be loved by and to love a woman who was my soul mate!" his voice was raising again but the cocked eyebrow of the woman before him caused him to tone it down a bit. "She's everything to me Momma, you have to help me get home!" he wondered if this was what Dorothy felt like in the Wizard of Oz. If that were the case, let him click his damned heels and go back.

"You're willing to give up 'everything' for her?" Gil nodded without even bothering to ask why she seemed to stress the word 'everything' until she explained.

"She could cost you your job!"

"I don't care, I could get another anywhere I want, I'm a renowned Entomologist for God sake, the lab is lucky to have me!" he sounded cocky and didn't care.

"What if she wants children?"

"Then will have two or twenty, whatever Sara wants...I'm in this for the long haul. I love her Momma, for the first time I know that saying it isn't just hollow words. I feel her with every breath I take, I hear her heartbeat at night and it soothes me and lulls me to sleep. I feel her breath when she's about to kiss me and it's more to me than the air I breath, it is the air I breath..." he was exasperated but he wanted her to understand.

"What if she wants to leave Las Vegas?"

"She already left, but she came back., I think..I'm pretty sure.. Brass would have called her when this happened" he reached for his wounds again but still found nothing. "Sara..." he way he said her name spoke volumes about his feelings and his Mother smiled.

"What if you grow tired of her?"

"I never will, I've known her for 9 years, I wanted to be with her every moment of every day but I was a fool, I was afraid, I'm not anymore!" he watched her sip the tea but he refused the glass she offered to him.

"What if she grows tired of you?" he'd thought of that very scenario many times and his answer was thought out before he replied. "Then I would cease to exist!"

"Do you love her with your whole heart?"

He nodded and smiled that brilliant heart stopping smile that was so Grissom "I love her with everything I was, am and will be...she is my equal in every way...she's what makes me want to get up each day and what makes me want to come home at the end of the day. She's my everything!" his hands rubbed at his face as he fought back the tears...

"Mr. Grissom, Mr Grissom you have to stop that., if you don't stop trying to remove your breathing tube...we're going to have to restrain you!" the older nurse was yelling into his face as she struggled with his wildly waving arm. Grissom looked up at her, the house was gone, so was his Mother, he was suddenly aware he was in the hospital and the pain in his leg and under his arm was very very real and oh so welcome!


	32. Chapter 32

A/N Sorry I didn't get more updated, had to attend a function last night but I'm back at work..typing hard...and as always, THANK YOU ALL for the fabulous reviews that you've all sent, they mean the world to me and make me work harder.

Disclaimer: Don't own, should...can be mine for the right price...LOL only kidding.

Sara was carefully lifted onto a gurney then shuffled off to an examination room. The nurse that had come at Nick's insistence had summoned an Emergency room Doctor and both were with her now. As the nurse and an aid began removing her clothing, Nick paced nervously just outside the curtained area. The doctor called out whatever questions he had to the young man.

"Name?"

"Sara...Sara Sidle, 35years old" he added knowing that would probably be one of the questions forthcoming.

"How long has she been like this?" Nick's head shot up.

"Like this?" think Nick, when was the last time you saw Sara? Like what...how? Had she really been different? Sick? Could there have been something and he simply hadn't seen it? " Like what?" he was about to slip his head into the curtain to see just what 'this' was when the doctor answered for him.

"She's dehydrate, visibly underweight, unconscious" he added the last like it was news to Nicky who had pulled out his cellphone and punched in a text message to Catherine.

'_Get to ER now, they're asking me questions but won't let me see her_!" he palmed the phone again and then quietly set it back in his pockets.

There was another influx of two or three people that entered the area Sara was now in, one was a lab tech coming to draw blood, another and respiratory therapist who quickly hooked her up to the oxygen and then the other tech started an IV.

"Is there any chance she's pregnant?" the nurse poked her head out from between two of the blue curtains that in Nick's opinion might as well have been a steel door.

"Pregnant? I'm ... I don't...I'm not...she's not my girlfriend, she's a co-worker, she's been away for 4 or 5 months but...if she was...wouldn't she be showing?" he remembered two of his sisters, one seemed to sprout the tell tale belly over night and the other had managed to hide it until her 5th or 6th month.

"Could you ask her husband?" one of the techs poked his head out and Nick heard a distinctive 'ouch' after a slap from the other side. '_her husband's the guy they brought in on the medivac...the Crime scene guy that was shot twice you idiot!"_ Nick could hear the shushed argument going on beside him and laughed in spite of the situation. "_Sorry I didn't know, no one tells me anything...how the hell was I supposed to know?_"

"Um..that would be a no...and I don't think she confided in anyone since she's been gone" he was at a loss and paged Catherine again. '_​ Do u no if Sara is pregnant? Did she confide in anyone, u or Brass? Where the hell r u?_' his fingers flew over the letters of the text he quickly sent. Catherine came quickly through the door holding up her cell phone.

"No, not that i know of, certainly not me, and right behind you...in that order!" she put the phone back in her vest pocket and stood beside him. "How is she? What's wrong with her? Have they said anything to you?'

The doctor came out from behind the curtain, "I'm pretty sure I have a good idea, I'll have to run the blood tests to confirm it, but beside that" he looked to the two people in front of him "I can't really say until I know more...sorry!" he meant about his first idea. "She's dehydrated, about 10 to 15 lbs below what would be ideal for her height...and stress...her husband was the officer they brought in?" he raised a brow. Catherine and Nick decided it would be easier not to try to explain their situation and nodded in agreement.

"About 6 months ago, she was abducted and buried alive in the desert under a car" Catherine added and the doctors eyes widened as he shook his head in acknowledgment.

"Ah...yeah Sidle, CSI Sidle...the last victim of the Miniature Killer...I remember that..." he looked back beyond the curtain "She's had a rough go of it as of late...I hope the ba..." he looked up realizing his faux pas "I shouldn't say anything unless I'm sure." he dismissed himself without anything further than to tell them they could go in and be with Sara.

"He thinks Sara's pregnant?" Nick turned to Catherine who shrugged.

"Well I'm sure they were doing it..." she laughed before suddenly becoming deadly serious. "I hope to God if she is the baby is okay...and Grissom...Sara can't handle much more." Nick stood there, hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"You think Grissom will be happy?" Nick wondered, not picturing Grissom as the father type, well, here at the lab he was the 'father figure' to Catherine's 'Mom figure' and he saw Sara, Warrick and Greg as extensions of brothers and a sister. Then again, to be honest, he hadn't figure that Grissom would have ever had the balls to finally go after Sara and look where they were.

"I think he'll be over the moon, something both he and Sara created...I just hope" she sniffed back a tear "I hope he makes it through to see this..." she mirrored his thoughts. "Sara needs him and he definitely needs Sara..." Nick nodded. "We better go see how she is." she pulled the curtain back and found Sara lying on the bed in a hospital gown, IV placed in her hand and an oxygen mask over her face. She at first looked like she might be asleep but Nick saw her blink.

"Hey sunshine, you gave us a scare there for awhile" he moved to the head of the bed and gently caressed her cheek "How are you feeling?" she looked at him and frowned. "I know, I know, after last time you said 'no more hospitals' but hey, you're the one that chose to collapse in one!" he teased her and got a slight smile "That's my girl...you're gonna be okay!" he stated with a sure conviction.

"Hey Sar" Catherine was on the other side of the bed. "Gil's still in surgery, they got the bullet from his thigh and there was surprisingly little damage." she watched the younger woman's expression. "I don't know anything else at this point, I was worried about you..."she touched Sara's shoulder and squeezed gently. "If you want I'll run down and check if there's anything new but I'm pretty sure Warrick, Greg or Brass would have contacted me. You know, vascular work takes awhile" she knew that the damage he'd sustained would require the most talented and dedicated surgeon and after everyone had went to check on Sara and make needed phone calls, Catherine had told the doctor in charge that he was to get only the VERY BEST Surgeon should Gil require it no matter the cost, she'd fly them in if need be but he was to have only the VERY BEST!" the doctor knew she wasn't cutting corners here.

"Sara is it possible you're pregnant?" Nick was the first to broach the subject and took his two friends by surprise. They had come in when Catherine left to check on Grissom. Sara looked up and a hand shot to her abdominal region.

"I...I don't think...I don't think so...I would have had to have been when I left" she saw the slightest flinch from Greg and turned her attention to him. "He didn't want me to go Greg, I know none of you will understand this...with the possible exception of Nicky, but when Natalie kidnapped me and buried me alive...something inside of me broke, I needed to leave and try to put myself back together. I couldn't stay here, surrounded by death, whispers and stares at the lab., it wouldn't have been 'Oh look, there's Sara Sidle, she was a victim of the Miniature Killer' it would have been 'there's that Sidle, you know, she's boffing the boss and that's against the rules, I wonder if she got her CSI level 3 status that way...and did you see how he used the entire lab to find her...' I couldn't take it anymore...every time I visited while I was recovering, I felt the stares and I heard the gossip. I needed to go back to where I started and find out what I lost to appreciate what I have." she watched him knowing she'd had his full attention this time.

"And did you?" he moved over to the foot of the bed, leaned a hip against it and for the first time since her return, made eye contact with her. "Did you find what was broken and fix it?" Sara thought for a moment then smiled warmly.

"I found out that sometimes, you can't or shouldn't always try to fix everything. I learned that I have the family I was meant to have right here! I learned that flaws and all, Grissom loves me and I don't care what anyone else says or thinks, my solve rate speaks for itself. I learned that my job isn't what defines me anymore and I'm still working out whether or not I want to come back to it." the looks on their faces were of utter shock, no one had considered the fact that she might be thinking of leaving permanently. "I haven't made any solid signed in stone decisions yet guys but it's possible, I'm tired of being surrounded by... death." and they knew, with her slight pause on that last word, she was thinking of Grissom.

"Well they should be getting the results back from your blood tests any time" Catherine walked in with a slight smile on her face. "And...Gil just came out of surgery...he's in critical condition which I'm told was to be expected considering the location of the bullet and the blood loss but someone was looking out for him, it nicked an artery but the damage wasn't extensive." she leaned over and hugged Sara.

"When can I go see him?" Sara started to pull the equipment from her and was instantly stopped by Greg and Catherine.

"Whoa...just slow down girl, you're not going anywhere until we find out why you collapsed back there" Cath put the oxygen mask back on her face. Greg hooked up the leads she'd disconnected. "When they give you the all clear, you can go back to the surgical floor and see him." she was again taking control here. Sara thought about fighting her on it but then, seeing Nick and Warrick were willing to back her up, she knew it was a losing cause.

"Fine!" she huffed and wound up steaming up the oxygen mask.

"Wooooo, someone's steamed" Greg took that moment to lighten the mood then give her a hug "I'm sorry I acted the way I did...I just didn't know why you ran away, why you couldn't tell us what you were dealing with..." he still didn't understand it all but in truth, only someone like Nicky who'd gone through it would understand it.

"I just want to be there in case he wakes up...I want him to know I'm here, I'm not going anywhere" she smiled sadly and Warrick took a moment to wrap his arm supportively around her shoulders., "Listen, you were in that helicopter with him, and I bet you were holding his hand too." Warrick laughed when she scrunched up her lips and stuck her tongue out at him. "He knows you were there...trust me, the two of you can't walk into a room without the other knowing you're there, I've seen it...I've been there" he squeezed gently.

The doctor returned with his clipboard and waited to see if the additional people in the room were going to leave him alone with Sara or not, apparently they chose not. "I have some good news and I'm afraid, I have some bad news..." he began. Warrick felt her tense in his arms.

"I'll take the good news first if you please..." she tried, really tried to keep up appearances but her lower lip started to quiver and everyone moved closer to her. The doctor noticed and smiled inwardly, glad to know she had such a support team.


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: Here you go, and this time, I did lighten the mood for you a bit...just a bit...tell me what you think...is this not the perfect set up? I know, I went for the ... well you'll see when you read it but it's my GSR universe and this is what should happen...

enjoy!

Sara was sitting there, dumbfounded, '_why ask for the good news first? Does anyone want the bad news first to get it out of the way and maybe the good news would obliterate the bad?_' The doctor decided to wait it out till he had her full attention.

"Well, I thought so but wanted to confirm that you might be pregnant" Sara's eyes widened momentarily, '_maybe she was and there was something wrong with the baby, she'd been through hell lately and it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise considering what her body had endured., but omg, maybe he was here to tell her she was pregnant but Gil had died...not that...not that...oh Dear God not that..._' "You are, you're about 5 and ½ months from what you've told me about being away...we'll know more when we perform the ultrasound, I've ordered it and Stacy, my nurse, should be coming up with a tech shortly." he paused. "And that brings me to the bad news...unfortunately, you're dehydrated, you've obviously not been taking care of your nutritional needs and should be up by about 20 lbs considering your height and where I think you're at in this pregnancy."

"So there's something wrong with the baby?" the words shot forth before she could control them. She tightened her grip on Warrick's arm and Catherine also came over to offer support. "Just tell me Doctor, whatever it is I'll do whatever I have to in order to make this baby better...I'll do whatever you say" she saw his lips turn up in the slightest grin.

"That's exactly what I was hoping you'd say but the problem isn't with the baby...yet" he put his clipboard done on the rolling table that was beside her bed. "You my dear are the problem!" he picked up his pen and started jotting notes inside the chart.

"You obviously don't sleep, you probably haven't eaten well in awhile, you need to gain weight, you should be gaining a bit each month and you're quite a bit behind., not to mention you're dehydrated." Sara was nodding with each truth he hit on.

"So, the bad news, you're going to have to stay here for a few days so we can monitor you both, get some good food, or as good food as we have in this hospital" he scrunched up his face and laughed. Sara opened her mouth to protest.

"I'll make you a deal, you agree to this, I'll get you a room with your husband so when he comes out of recovery" he smiled up at her continuing to jot notes. "Yes I already checked, he's doing well, they have him on a vent to ease the stress on his lung, it was collapsed when the bullet nicked it. This was news to Sara and her shocked expression told him as much "Apparently his doctors haven't been up to talk to you?" she shook her head no. \

"Well there was very little vascular damage considering the fact that the bullet went in on a very strange angle but it did cause his lung to collapse, unfortunately because it was collapsed so long the inside gets a 'sticky residue' and it's harder to re inflate so his lungs were given a dose of Surfactant like they use in preemies, it's kind of like putting Pam inside a plastic bag so the sides don't stick together..." he smiled shyly "Sorry couldn't think of a better way of making a comparison but it's doing the job, his lung is staying inflated but the vent will take some of the stress off his body for now.

"Will he be okay?" her voice was calm and low. Catherine watched as her hand, with what seemed like a mind of it's own rubbed small circles on her stomach. She didn't appear to realize she was doing it. "I mean will he be able to breath on his own? What will be the residual effects of all this?" she was thinking of her own incident. She prayed that Grissom would get past this both mentally and physically.

"I expect he'll need a, decent recovery time but baring any unforeseen problems cropping up, I expect him to make a full recovery. He has lost quite a bit of blood but considering everything, we're quite pleased with where he's at right now." he closed the chart and looked up "But what are we going to do about you Sara?' his concern was genuine.

"I will do whatever I have to in order to make sure our little larva is healthy" she saw the shocked looks on Nick, Warrick and Greg's faces as well as a chuckle that Catherine was unable to hide.

"Larva?" the doctor seemed confused.

"Her husband" Catherine wasn't about to correct anyone's assessment of her friends relationship. "He's a world renown Entomologist...thus the larva" she sounded almost apologetic. "They're both a little strange but hell, ya gotta love em" she laughed and everyone in the room joined in.

"Is that it?" Sara watched as a nurse came in with another person who turned out to be the ultrasound tech. "Can my family stay?" she watched the doctor look around at the various people in the room. "I'd really like them to stand in for this baby's Daddy" she knew he would understand.

"Well, let's get the show on the road and see what's going on in there" he laughed, placed the clipboard and gently raised Sara's gown to just below her breasts and then brought her panties down just a bit below her stomach. "The gel is a bit cold at first but..." he watched the tech slather the reader with the ultrasound gel then apologize for it when Sara inadvertently hissed with the first contact.

"Sorry.., I know it's cold, honestly I do, I have four of my own children" she looked barely 20 "Do you want to know what you're having if we can see?" Sara looked around at the people with her and smiled "I think I'd like that" she was scared. This should have been a moment for her and Grissom but instead, she was surrounded by everyone she held in high esteem.

"This is perfect" she joked as Warrick held one hand, Catherine the other, Nick was gently rubbing small circles on the top of her foot and Greg just stared at the tech thinking she looked to young to have four kids and disappointed because he was thinking of asking her out when she first came in. "The only think missing is David..." she laughed with the rest of them.

"Did someone call my name?" the only missing piece apparently had tracked them all down to the hospital, wormed his way into the emergency room and now was standing with his head inside the room and his body outside.

"Oh God, now it's perfect" she picked her head up, then dropped it back down "You might as well come in, but if you spill the beans before I get to Hodges, I swear I'll rip off your head and make you eat decomp for a week." she was teasing but not and they knew it. "Anyone else care to come in?" she was joking this time until she heard another set of voices.

"Hey, did we miss anything?" Catherine had sent a text to Brass who sent a text to Al, who accidentally spilled the beans to Wendy who then told Mandy who was telling Bobbie and swearing him to secrecy when Hodges overhead everything and took the first cab down to the hospital right behind Al.

"Come in...come in, you might as well all get to say you saw Sara in her panties..." she chuckled at the hilarity of the situation and only wished that Grissom could get this on tape.

"I brought Archie with...if you don't mind, after all he's the digital expert and I thought, since Gil was still in recovery" how he knew that she'd find out later. "But I thought we could maybe tape this for him so he doesn't have to miss anything?" Hodges heart was in the right place even though he spent his time acting like his head was up his ass.

"Sure Hodges, thanks for thinking of us" she knew damned well Hodges had planned on taking that digital tape back to the lab and have the first inside scoop on everything. When Archie entered, camera in hand, he apologized and took his place where he could get everyone and everything on tape.

"Ready when you are!" he put the camera on a tripod and began filming.

"Archie!" Sara picked her head up one last time as the tech, doctor and nurse smiled and shook their heads. "I want that tape the minute they're done...understand?" Archie nodded "Otherwise, I'll tell Grissom about the video games you and Hodges play when you're supposed to be working!" she put her head back down, took a deep breath and said. "Let's Rock and Roll!"


	34. Chapter 34

Sara promised the doctors that she would take their advice and change her eating habits, if not for herself at least for the sake of the littlest Grissom who was nestled safely inside her body. The room she would share with Grissom was set up, two beds, two televisions just in the event they couldn't agree on a channel which wasn't very likely considering the two were very much alike.

She sat for nearly two hours, first with the company of Catherine and Warrick then later, Nick and Mandy stopped by along with a short visit from David and Wendy. Now she sat waiting as the nurses had promised for them to bring Gil to the room. He'd made it through surgery and they'd kept him in recovery long enough to make sure his vitals were stable and the vent he was on was doing its job.

"Mrs. Grissom?" the transport tech came in. "Here's your husband" he came in with another tech she didn't recognize pushing a gurney with Gil on it. He looked peaceful except for the plastic hoses and vent that were taped to his mouth. "I know it looks nasty but really, he's asleep and doing pretty well considering, the doctor said he would be up in a few and just wanted us to have the chance to get him settled. They pushed the gurney up even with the bed they'd set up earlier, locked the wheels in place and then quickly shifted him from one place to the next, put a pillow under his head, checked that the hoses were properly connected then wheeled the empty bed back out.

The nurse came in, checked his vitals, took a blood sample, hooked up his IV and then connected the leads to the various machines he would be hooked up to for the near future. "He's doing really well, stats are up, vitals look great and from what I can tell, the lung that was collapsed is staying re inflated like they'd hoped so if all goes well and he continues improving, we might get him off the vent in a day or so." she smiled at Sara who had moved to the edge of her bed but almost looked afraid to come closer. "It looks pretty imposing Sara but, he needs this right now, his body went through a lot and right now, this stuff" she waved her hand around "Just takes a load off his system" she smiled warmly "Is there anything I can get you?" she moved around to Sara's side of the bed, pushed over a recliner and said "you know, they say they can hear you, even under sedation, you can talk to him, let him know you're here with him." she grinned then helped Sara out of the bed and into the chair. "My best...to both of you" and she left the room sliding the door closed behind her.

Sara reached over, almost fearful of touching his pale skin but she gently took her hand in his and closed her fingers and him. "Hey there Mr. Grissom...you need to wake up and get better...you know, I was thinking, we can do a big wedding if you'd like...or a small one, all our friends? Maybe a few? Either is really fine with me...we could elope, maybe to to the Elvis chapel and we can..." she felt his hand tighten slightly then relax. "Okay, maybe not the Elvis chapel, maybe we could do the Space Alien chapel...ya know, 'ET phone home and everything' again, she felt a slight squeeze. "Well Mr. Fussy, maybe we should just get a minister and get this over with as soon as that tube comes out of your mouth and you can say "I Do!" this time she knew it wasn't her imagination., one ocean blue orb was staring at her and the pressure on her hand didn't let up as quickly. "You're awake already? They didn't think you'd be up so soon" she reached over and quickly buzzed the nurse.

His eyes opened wide as his body suddenly realized that he wasn't breathing on his own but a tube was down his throat. "Gil, don't fight it, your lung was collapsed and the machine is breathing for you so you don't over do it." he was watching her with a crinkled brow. "You were involved in a shooting" she didn't know if he remembered or not. "You were shot twice, the leg isn't so bad, well, I'm sure it's bad as far as painful but it won't cause any long term problems, you were hit under the arm" he still watched her, blinking slowly and she wondered if that was an effect of the surgery and meds. "You're going to be okay...you'll need time to recover but I'll be there every step of the way" she saw his eyebrow raise in question. "We have a lot to talk about" she wondered if she should tell him the news then decided it couldn't wait lest someone else slip before she got the chance. "I have some news for you...it's wonderful...really" she smiled then leaned closer. "You and I have successfully continued the Grissom line" she saw his eyes open wider. "We're going to have a little baby Grissom...a geek baby" she laughed as she traced small soft circles on his cheek.

"I found out what the baby is going to be but I don't know if you wanted to know beforehand?" she had changed her mind 17 times before the tech, the second to have examined her, finally wrote out the sex on a sheet of paper and folded it 4 times then stuck it in an envelope. Immediately the bets were on how long it would take her to break down, rip open the information and get her answer. Nick won with his 3 minutes guess starting 2 minutes after the ultrasound was done, Warrick had gone for 5, Greg 7 and Catherine gave her the benefit of the doubt and said 10. Brass had guessed that she would wait until the baby came, Al said there was no way in hell she'd find out before she could ask Gil what he wanted to do. What she'd found was a note that said "Call me when you actually decide what you want to do" and the tech had left. She let the team think she'd just decided to be surprised but Nick whined.

"Hey, my guess counts, it doesn't matter if the note actually said the sex...you grabbed for it in three minutes!" and the others had to agree. Sara smirked then told them she was tired and just wanted time to process everything. They'd agreed to give her time to get settled in her new room and said they'd be back as soon as they could. One by one they'd left until only Brass remained. He had momentarily slipped out of the room and unbeknown to her, had asked the tech to write down the baby's sex and include a copy of the ultrasound picture knowing that she'd want to know and want to share with Gil when given the chance.

"Hey Cookie" he had poked his head into the room when he was sure everyone had left. "This is for you, and Gil if you want to know the actual sex of your child, if you don't, well I don't blame you...but this is for real...so.." he'd blushed lightly handed over the envelope and gave her a peck on the cheek, "I'm proud of you and Gil" he smiled, touched her arm then quietly left.

Sara sat staring at the envelope for a long time...she decided that she would open it ONLY if Gil wanted to know and she'd go along with whatever he decided. Now, as she held his hand an looked into his eyes she whispered "Brass gave me this envelope with the baby's sex inside...if you want to know ahead of time...blink once" she watched "If you want to wait...blink twice" she chewed on her bottom lip and waited patiently. Gil's eyebrow quirked up and she laughed. "No, it's not only my decision!" it amazed her how easily she now read his meanings even without the words. "It's both of our decisions and I'm offering you the chance to have the final say so." his eyes danced with the news that he was going to be a Father. "Come on Daddy...do you want to know or not?" he stared at her, rolled his eyes as if deep in thought. "Don't you dare pull that with me Bugman, you are not seriously putting this on me.." she was teasing and the creases near his eyes let her know so was he. "So...do we open the envelope and see who gets the Oscar?" he squeezed her hand. "Do you want a boy or girl?" she was stalling now...he rolled his eyes again and sighed best he could., nothing was ever easy with their decisions... "Okay...fine, we will just wait till Newton or Marie comes out!"

Gil was laying there trying to think why she'd want to name them that, then it came to him..Newton or Marie., he didn't want them named that...even if they were the names of two great scientists...that's it, she wants to name them after scientists...no!" he wanted to tell her point blank that he wasn't having his kids living under the stigma of greatness they'd feel they had to live up to...but it was difficult without being able to use his voice so he squeezed her hand again. "What?" she figured she could play this out a little longer until Gil reached up toward the tube in his mouth and motioned that he wanted it out and he meant NOW!" she shook her head but he motioned again and squeezed her hand hard. "Gil., the doctors want it to stay in a day or two longer!" Squeeze...and that motion again and and angry flash of his eyes told her she'd be better off asking the nurse for a reprieve. "I will see what they will do." Just then a nurse came in, apologized for the delay in response to her original page and explained there had been an emergency on their floor.

"I'm so sorry, I know this is totally unacceptable!" she was ringing her hands. "Oh, you're awake, how wonderful Mr. Grissom" she moved over and started to chart his vitals again. "I'm sure you want that vent out?" she looked into his blue eyes and could only imagine what they'd look like in a heated moment of passion. Swallowing that thought she continued charting while looking casually at Sara. She wondered how the two had met, how they'd gotten together., a younger woman, older man...but she kept her thoughts to herself and digested her bit of envy. "I can see if the doctor will allow us to remove that." Gil nodded slightly and gave her a thumbs up. She was gone about 15 minutes and as he lay there, he would occasionally sneak a peak in Sara's direction.

"I know you want that out!" she was glancing at the envelope again. Gil reached out his hand and held it open in the direction of the envelope. "You want to open this?" he nodded. "You want me to open it?" he shook his head as best he could. "Wait, you want to open it?" Nod "But you don't want me to see it?" Nod. "No way Bugman, if anyone gets to know the sex of this larva, we get to know it together!" she ripped open the envelope and read the results...then started to cry. Gil was confused., perhaps it had been a cruel joke? Then he saw her leaning over him with a huge smile on her face. "Well Bugman, we have a bit of a dilemma" he scrunched his face. "Seems the first ultrasound tech needs to bone up on her ability to read the ultrasound..." Sara had thought back to the exam and had in fact questioned the tech while listening to the baby's heartbeat. _'Why does it sound like two heartbeats?"' _The tech smiled and explained it as an echo off the other organs then had pulled another tech in to do another exam and read the results..."And it would seem that you Mr. Gilbert Grissom are a bit of an overachiever" the smile was mega watt now and Gil wished he could share it with her. "It seems that you get both!" she held up the paper for him to see "Sidle-Grissom, Sara 35yr female/6m pregnancy result /twin fetus/male/female" was printed above the grainy picture of her ultrasound and apparently, they circled both hearts and made little arrows to show both babies. There was a note inside "apparently the twins are mirroring each other, one was covering the other...Congratulations! "We are having twins...Bugman" she kissed his cheek and watched his eyes, they were wet and definitely happy.


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter, My Father was hospitalized yet again yesterday for his heart, after putting him in the hospital, I had the unfortunate duty of coming home and having to put his 8 year old English Mastiff to sleep then make a 120 mile round trip down to my friends place to leave her to be cremated, unfortunately it didn't leave much time for writing. I promise, as soon as things settle I'll be back to my frantic updates...

Disclaimer: Tonight, I really wish I could at least own Billy or borrow him for a day...just to pick that gorgeous mind!

Later that day they had finally agreed to remove the vent, Sara was more sure it was because they were afraid that Gil would remove it himself if they didn't as opposed to being the best move for his condition. After some initial discomfort with trying to breath on his own and a good dose of pain meds to alleviate some of the discomfort, he was now reclining on the hospital bed staring at the picture of his children.

"You did good Bugman" Sara was curled up on her own bed which had been moved closer. The nurses knew they wanted to be together but due in part to Gil's injuries, they drew the line at letting them share a bed. "Sorry, while we normally overlook policy, we can't in this case so you don't accidentally undo the work our doctors spend the day doing" she'd admonished them and sent Sara back to her bed. "You can hold hands, you can sit next to him..but not on his bed right now." She chuckled with both of them. "You Mister!" she pointed at Gil, "need to let those stitches heal...you can't do that goofing around with your wife!" his eyes opened slightly but thankfully she missed the look., Sara however whipped her head around facing him and smiled, shrugged and then laughed.

When the nurse finally left., he turned toward her "Wife?" Sara buried her face in the magazine she'd been glancing at.

"How else do you think we got to share a room?" she winked and continued reading. "It doesn't bother you does it?" Gil contemplated for a moment.

"The fact that you're my wife or that we're sharing a room?" he was teasing when he should have been resting his voice, his throat was still sore and swollen from the tubes that had been there earlier. His voice was low and raspy. "I think I like both of them...after all, it was you that said '_you owe me a wedding.' _Sara's mouth hung open.

"You heard me?" she was stunned, not that she was embarrassed by the fact that he heard her.., but by the fact that he actually did hear he at the time she said it. He nodded and smiled.

"I know you held my hand in the helicopter as well" he admitted proudly "You never gave up on me!" He was suddenly saddened by his own feelings of cowardice when he thought back to the memories of what had transpired and how he'd actually felt during the situation inside the store.

"I was about to give up when I was lying on that floor but I heard Brass' voice and then I heard yours, I saw you standing outside the door. I held on because you were there...you came home" they hadn't discussed her return until now. "Did you find what you needed to on your trip?" what he meant to say was if she was staying., Sara caught on immediately. She repeated to him what she'd told the team about not always being able to fix what was broken and sometimes it was better that way. That she found her family in Vegas...of all places, strange as this family might be.

"Let's face it, we ain't no Brady Bunch!" she chuckled and Gil laughed lightly with her, it still hurt to do much more than that and the tight bindings they had around his injury kept him still. "But if you're asking if I'll be leaving again..." his eyes betrayed his fears. "I found my life when I found you...I found out who I am now is all I need to be and if you don't mind., I'd like to take your name, without the hyphenated Sidle" She silently waited out his response.

"Sara, I don't have a problem if you want to hyphenate our last names" he whispered with his already overtaxed voice.

"I want to put an end to the nightmares, the end to the bad in my life and everything bad has been associated with the Sidle name., I want to give me, me and you, us and our children a fresh start" she looked up to see if he understood "everything good in my life began with you, when I met you, when we finally got together" she noticed him swallow guiltily "What?"

"It wasn't always smooth sailing with me" he admitted very quietly "I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to what to do about us" he tried to avoid making eye contact but she stared at him until he looked up.

"You figured it out...that's all that matters to me" she smiled "I once heard you tell someone during a lecture that _'anything good worth having is worth the hard work it takes to get it and keep it...' _he laughed at that one.

"Do you tape everything I say?" he teased her, just like he had many times before when she was able to quote him verbatim. She nodded once then chuckled.

"Only when it benefits me." she stuck out her tongue at him from across the room. "An buddy, there have been some big benefits...some huge benefits...some ginormous benefits" he stuck his finger out and blushed.

"Enough Mrs. Grissom...or Mr. Grissom will have to make you pay later... he laid his head back enjoying the ease in which they were able to tease each other.

"You need to rest Mr. Grissom...now close your mouth, shut your eyes and get some rest."

"Nag, nag, nag...why did you kill your wife?...she nagged me!" he closed his eyes and remembered the case with the man who had put his dead wife in his water filtration tank after killing her...that had been his feeble excuse...'_she nagged me.' _But it had also been the caress of her hand and her supposed excuse of brushing chalk off his cheek that had made his heart flutter with the desire to be with her and the confusion of what to do about them that started that very day. He was grateful that she had the guts to make the first move., sad that it took him so long to follow up on it...but considering where they were headed., he wouldn't have changed anything.


	36. Chapter 36

Mid week the nurse came in and told Gil and Sara that Grissom was going for the start of physical therapy. "I'm not ready" he looked ashen and genuinely upset. "I'll be back as soon as everything is set up and the Therapist gets here" and she was about to leave when she saw him shaking his head. Gil had tried earlier in the day to lift his arm on the injured side as soon as the nurse had left him alone and Sara was asleep. He hadn't gotten it more than four inches when he cried out in pain. "Grissom what the hell?" she'd jumped out of her own bed, against medical advice she was sure and moved over to his bed. "What are you doing?" She grabbed a towel and patted the sweat dripping from his forehead. "You shouldn't be doing anything until they tell you!" she was livid and panicked, Grissom was nearly in tears.

"I can't do it, I can't get my arm up." she moved the support pillow that had been placed under his arm and against his side.

"Better?" He nodded trying to swallow the bile that rose into his throat. "You have to give it time Gil, it's only been a few days..." she wiped at the pool of sweat on his temples and down the side of this neck. The effort it had taken took its toll on him and he was panting. "Gil...it will get easier" she recalled her own recovery after the kidnapping. "Remember it took me awhile and you were there, every step of the way...and so shall I be with you!" she kissed him lightly on the lips as his breathing leveled out a bit more.

Now the nurse was expecting him to be able to do what he considered impossible.

"Mr. Grissom, you'll need to regain strength in the left side to do your work am I right?" Gil nodded and Sara kept her mouth shut. This was something she'd support him on but let him take the lead. "We'll start out slow, we can't have you rupturing your stitches but the sooner we get you moving normally, the faster you can go home and the easier it will be down the line" she touched his shoulder lightly. "Besides, you're going to be bouncing two children around in those arms before you know it and I'm sure you'll be looking forward to that!" she smiled and left the two together.

Sara had done as she'd been instructed and was eating better, hard not to do considering the doctors refused to let her leave until she put on a few pounds and made follow up appointments with an OB Gyn. "I promise, there is nothing more I want to do then get Gil home and ensure that our children are born healthy and happy. '_Their children' _the thought had at first seemed overwhelming and daunting, but Gil had assured her that he was thrilled beyond words at the unexpected turn their lives had taken.

"Sara, we've faced death and overcome it, we've faced almost losing friends, and overcome that as well., I think considering everything we've both been through, children will be a blessing." He held her hand then moved to rubbing small circles on her stomach. "I can't think of anyone else I would want to carry my children" he had turned and kissed her passionately. "You're going to be a fantastic Mom" he kissed her again. "And I'll be an okay..." she slapped him lightly and smiled into his kiss.

"You're going to be a phenomenal Father...I have no doubt. "I just can't believe we're having two" she laid her hand on her belly and startled "Feel this" she pulled his larger hand over her abdomen again and waited. "

"What? I don't..." but then the smile and light in his blue eyes shown even brighter "I feel fluttering...is that the babies moving?" Sara had felt something but wasn't sure earlier.

She nodded with tears in her eyes "I think Waldo and Ophelia are awake" Since she'd been eating better and sleeping a bit more she'd noticed that her abdomen finally started to round out and soften. The doctor assured her that she was moving right along, the heartbeats were strong and he felt confident she'd be able to carry near to term, explaining that with multiples, often times they liked to induce or take them by c-section a little early because of the strain on the Mother's body.

"Waldo and Ophelia?" He grimaced at the names "How about Lucy and Desi?" she giggled and shook her head.

"Herman and Lily?" she cracked up laughing. "Mike and Carol?" he laughed at her reference to the Brady Bunch.

"Nope...how about Ren and Stimpy?" he was in full swing now.

"Not naming my kids after cartoon characters!" she crossed her arms over her belly in a protective move. "How about Braedon Cameron Grissom and Alexis Rose Grissom?" she looked into the blue pools of his eyes and smiled.

"I like those names...where did you get them?" he was curious, wondering if Catherine had supplied her with books of baby names. She smiled and told him about a little girl she knew in foster care, her name had been Alexis Rose and everyone called her Lexie., her brother hadn't been so lucky, he had not made it out of the last foster home, found beaten and starved in a closet. They too had been twins and their birth Mother, a teenager had named them and wasn't fond of the twin stigma so she found names that were vastly different. "Then I think those names will be fine" he nodded. He loved the quiet moments with her, when she felt comfortable to open up about her past. They'd both learned that keeping secrets never benefited anyone and over the course of their relationship, had been more and more forthcoming with information.

"When we get out of here, I think we're going to have to go shopping" she was absent absentmindedly rubbing her stomach again. "I want them to each have their own rooms." she looked up at Gil wondering if he was following her train of thought.

"Why don't we call our Realtor and find out about putting the town house up for sale?" He had been thinking of this since hearing about the babies. "We can find a nice four bedroom home, or more if you want" he smiled devilishly and winked. "I'd like an office, we can always share and a huge family room is a must..." it was funny to think of this Grissom, compared to the first glances she'd taken of the town home when the walls were bare, off white and sterile looking, no curtains, no color., just a canvas that she'd eventually made a home for both of them. Color now showed everywhere, some bolder than others but all with a warmth that told of a home where people 'lived' now., where love was present and where a family was made. "We'll have to find one with good schools, and being near a park is a must...unless we get a big back yard, a swing set, fort and lots of room for bugs, butterflies and bumble bees..." he was going on and she was laughing at him. "Can you just see us, sitting outside on the deck watching the kids chase butterflies and playing in their tree house and fort and..." Sara's giggle was contagious.

"You're really are into this aren't you?" she sounded thoroughly surprised. He nodded quickly looking like a kid just offered a puppy. "I'm glad, though we'll see how into this you are when I'm up all night peeing my brains out, and I'm fat and waddle around like an overstuffed duck!" she was picturing herself and wondering just how big she might get.

"Then I'll be able to waddle with you, me on my walker and you ..." the look she gave him silenced him. "Sorry" he quietly apologized with a very bashful look on his face. "I was teasing you know?" but he knew that she'd admonished him many times over the years when he made reference to their age difference, his fear that she'd eventually tire of being with someone older...and his fear that if she left...well, she had left, and it had felt as if it had taken a part of him but she was back, he was whole again and happier than he could ever imagine. He reached out and took her hand and she wondered what exactly he'd been thinking of. She knew better than to press at times.

"You know, I am the luckiest lady around!" she winked at him. He looked stunned at her admission. "You look surprised?" She never understood why this surprised him. She'd told him, showed him...tried for years to convince him, which thankfully she'd ultimately managed but still, whenever she said or hinted how lucky she felt, he still seemed surprised. "I'm serious Gilbert!" she used his name either during moments of passion or when she was trying to get a final point across. "I feel very lucky to have you, I love walking down the street and holding your hand, when you put your arm around me I feel so loved and protected." she noticed a look that passed, like a shadow across his face. "You're still not on that are you Gil?" he let go of he hand and looked away guiltily. "Oh for God sake!" her voice was filled with exasperation. "You couldn't have stopped Natalie, I accept that, why won't you?" she knew it had plagued him, haunted him after they'd found her. He'd voiced his concerns only one times and she'd tried to understand but couldn't comprehend why he still blamed himself. "Your team found me...you kept your head and wits about you and you found me. She didn't win!" her voice raised an octave. "You could no more protect me from her then I could have protected you from this!" he knew she was right., but never considered that she felt the same about the hostage situation. "I wanted to run inside that building the minute I saw you on the floor and if it would have meant killing them two bastards I would have done it!" she stood up and sat on the edge of his bed. "I wanted to kill them as much as you wanted to hurt Natalie...but in the end, we survived and we have something so precious..." she took his hand, laid it against her abdomen and put hers over it. "And no one is taking this away...or you, or me...you got that Bugman?" she was serious when she asked him that and he swallowed and nodded.

"What did I do to deserve you?" he let his good hand gently knead her softened stomach.

"You finally said Yes!" she sat there staring into his ocean blue eyes and smiling warmly. "You finally stopped running, hiding and pretending that you could live without me, or I without you..." she leaned forward and kissed him with all the passion she had pent up for days. "I told you before, I don't want the world to end...and I meant it!"


	37. Chapter 37

a/n Here they go again be warned! turn back now to avoid smut

They came and wheeled Grissom down to the therapy session. Sara had asked to go along and explained to the nurse just what had happened previously. "He's going to need support, first of all, he absolutely hates to be dependant on anyone but himself, he takes it as a personal affront to his pride, secondly I've been through therapy so I have an idea what to expect and if I'm there, he might not be so apt to want to call it a day so quickly." the nurse nodded in agreement.

"You certainly know your husband., how long have you been together?" She watched as Sara thought about it

"Well, some would say two years, but I've known him since I was a student of his back in college, he was a visiting professor." she blushed when she thought about how that sounded. "We were...instantly attracted but he had to come back to Vegas and I stayed behind in California..." she was walking side by side making their way toward the therapy room. "Then about 9 years ago we hooked up again when he called and asked me to come to Vegas and work with him." It was amazing how easy it was to talk to the woman beside her who happened to be about her same age.

"Don't' take this the wrong way Sara, but he's drop dead gorgeous and if he didn't have a wife, I'd be thinking of hitting on him myself!" she chuckled and Sara joined in.

"Just you keep your hands to yourself Arleen" it felt good to joke with someone again. "He's gonna be a Daddy and he'll have his hands full with me and two children." she touched her belly again. "But you're right, when he walked into the classroom and looked up, I fell hook, line and sinker for them damned beautiful blue eyes and at the time, he was just slightly gray." she remembered those days quite vividly. "Every once in awhile I would look up and catch him, mid sentence staring at me" she smiled. "He tells me I asked a lot of questions but it was because I was trying to figure out how to ask him for coffee or dinner." they arrived at the room and Arleen pushed the door open so they could both enter.

"Well, here we are" they walked in where Gil and the therapist were seated across from each other at a table.

"This is stupid, I'm not a child!" Gil's voice was raised and Sara could see the quirk of his brow, a tell tale signature that he wasn't going to willingly cooperate. "Why the hell do I have to stack building blocks?" he was holding his left arm tightly to his body. "Besides, I'm right handed, I wouldn't be doing that with my left hand to begin with." Sara looked at Arleen.

"Did I tell you how damned stubborn he is?" she winked "Took him years to admit how he really felt about me...poor therapist is going to have her hands full."

"Mr. Grissom, I don't give a damn if you use your toes on a daily basis, the bottom line is you have an injury to your left side, the muscles have got to rebuild and you need to exercise that arm...now pick up the damned blocks and stop acting like a child...then I won't have to treat you like one...unless you'd like a lollipop when you're done!" she gave as good as she got and Sara gave this point to her.

"Fine!" he pouted then scooted his chair closer and stared at the pile of disheveled blocks.

"Start with two, then make the next pile three, four and so on!" He glared at her then licked his lips, another of his stall tactics that Sara was all to familiar with. "Any time you're ready Mr. Grissom...we have all day" she looked at her watch and smiled.

"Fine!" the pout again then he raised his eyes and saw Sara standing over them behind the therapist. He knew immediately that he wasn't going to get out of the room without doing the work and that Sara was going to stay for the entire session. He moved the arm slightly and she could easily see the pain immediately etched on his face. "I just need to warm up...a...little" he bit his lip between the last words.

"Mr. Grissom, the pain you're feeling is very real and probably very excruciating, I know this is very hard and very discouraging but you can do this and we're here to help." she motioned for the nurse. "Why don't you ask the doctor for something for Mr. Grissom's pain, just to take some of the edge off during therapy...we can wait till you bring it back" the nurse nodded and left the room. Sara took a seat beside him and fiddled with the blocks not knowing what to say.

"Stop it!" he whispered under his breath. "Stop watching me like I'm going to break!" he knew he was being totally unfair but his anger suddenly flared and he couldn't stop it. Instead of saying anything, she put her hand discretely under the table and pressed his thigh. "I can do this...I can...I just" she squeezed again still not saying anything, just steadily kneading his thigh with her finger tips. Grissom reached up slowly, through the pain and with each grimace, Sara kneaded his flesh just a little harder. "I need to ..." he lifted the first block and after three tries got it balanced on the second then took a deep breath. "Next!" he swallowed again, puffed in and out through the pain and felt Sara's ever assuring hand, circles and kneading, a constant indication that she was going through this with him. The second pile of three blocks took 5 attempts and about 8 minutes to get them balanced but when he finished, he sat back, hugged his now tired arm to his throbbing side and smiled. "Want another?" Sara smiled and leaned against him.

"Actually Mr. Grissom" the therapist began.

"Gil" he corrected knowing they would become very involved over the next several weeks.

"Gil?" she seemed puzzled.

"My name, it's Gil., you don't have to call me Mr. Grissom, it makes me feel like my father...I'm not that old!" he teased as his breathing became easier. Sara rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around him gently.

"You two are cute together" the Therapist smiled "And I understand congratulations times two is in order for you both" Gil nodded and smiled.

"Yup, we're having twins, a boy and a girl, Sara already picked out two beautiful names" No one with the exception of the Therapist noticed that while he was busy talking he'd in fact moved his arm forward and was proceeding to stack four blocks on top of each other and this time he got it on the first attempt. "Our daughter is going to be Alexis Rose Grissom and our Son will be Braedon Cameron" he began another stack and this time both women were watching while they kept the chatter up. "We're going to have to look for another house, my...our town house would be okay but Sara wants them to have their own space and I'd like them to have a big back yard" he got the last bunch of blocks stacked again on the first try than sat back triumphantly.

The therapist now had a little more insight into getting more out of Grissom's therapy sessions. Keep his mind occupied while working his arm and shoulder muscles and it seemed that having Sara there was very beneficial as well as she'd quietly calmed him when he was sure he couldn't do what was required. "Well, you've done more than I had planned for today., how are you feeling?" she was jotting notes in his chart.

"I'm tired but I feel good" he nodded. "Can I walk back to my room?" he was hoping that she'd say yes since he was already tired of being wheeled from one place to another. It had been surgery, x-ray, therapy...and he wanted to simply walk down the hall holding Sara's hand.

"Well, I really shouldn't but, if you promise to take your time and take it easy..." she looked at Sara for confirmation that she'd at least follow the rules. "Just give yourself time to heal. And I'll see you both back here tomorrow?" Sara thanked her profusely and Gil, grateful to be free of the damned wheelchair stood up and stretched best that he could.

"You ready for a walk Mrs. Grissom?" he took her hand in his much larger one and squeezed.

"You betcha Mr. Grissom" she walked side by side to the door, turned to thank the Therapist once again and then they left. "You know, you did all that without ever getting a pain shot!" she was amazed at his dexterity considering what he'd been through.

"I did, didn't I?" he looked amused "Must have been those muscle rubs I was getting under the table!" he winked at her then pulled her close to give her a kiss. "Sara, thanks for being there for me..." he started to walk again but turned once more to face her. "Thanks for coming home to me...for giving me the life you always knew I needed to have." he kissed her again this time with his good arm pulling her tightly to him. "Thank you for my two children., I can't wait to see them" he kissed her again...each time he thought of something, he'd stop, pull her into an embrace and kiss her.

"If I wasn't so thrilled about your lips no mine Mr. Grissom, I would almost swear you're delaying the return to your hospital room!" she whispered between another round of tonsil hockey. "Not that I'm complaining mind you but do you realize when they finally figure out how long it took you to get from Therapy back to your room, the nurses are going to assume we were up to something." she smiled into his mouth as he planted yet another kiss on her.

"She said to take my time...take it easy" he winked. She brushed against him and felt his immediate response.

"Well" she blushed then whispered "You might be trying to take it easy tiger, but something else" she glanced down toward his groin "Seems to have its mind on some other activities?" she squeezed his hand and continued walking toward his room. "I don't think the doctors or nurses would approve of us doing it in the hallway." she pulled him into their room and he backed her around and against the door.

"How about we do it right here, in our room...right now!" he growled into her mouth as he planted another full mouthed kiss on her and ran his tongue against the roof of her mouth. Sara pushed him away.

"Are you insane? Here in the hospital?" She was laughing but serious. "We can't do it here...what if they catch us?" she was standing there considering the possibilities when he started to kiss her again.

"Ummmm, you didn't mind doing it in the airplane bathroom" he sucked her bottom lip between his teeth. "You just need the right incentive and I'm sure" he kissed her and ran his tongue against the bottom lip that he'd just momentarily held captive "I could give you plenty of incentive my dear..." he planted another kiss on the side of her mouth. "What can I say, you're married to a horny old man!" he winked and captured her mouth yet again. "Or you will be shortly...what do you say we get a minister, get married now, have a wedding later?" he was rambling again and she couldn't help but smile., this was the Grissom that no one had privilege to except Sara.

"When?" she looked pensively at him. "When do you want to get married?" she was trying to keep her train of thought straight but his roving hand that now cupped and caressed her right breast was making it difficult to breath let alone think.

"Now, the hospital has a minister, I'm sure they could arrange it" he was mumbling into her mouth as his fingers teased the responsive flesh and then his hand began to move over her slightly rounded belly and lower.

"Gil...!' her eyes shot open and locked onto his. "We can't do this here., you're not in any condition to contribute fully and..." his hand delved further and one finger curled into her folds..."ughhhhhhhhhhh" she breathed in and her head fell against his shoulder as he moved his buried digit in a come hither motion. "Stooooopppp" she pressed against his hand as he continued to finger her. "Weeeee cccould ggggggggget in...tttttttttrouble!" she was hissing between breaths as he plunged his one and then two digits in and out.

"What were you saying Mrs. Grissom about my not being able to fully participate?" he moved his fingers in circular motions around her now swollen clit and then lightly squeezed it between his two fingers only to move them back to their original starting position of moving in and out of her.

"Godddddd Gillllll" she felt the tremor of her climax beginning as he pinned her against the door. She was licking her lips and leaning heavily against him as the quivering that started in the pit of her stomach overtook her..."I'm...I'mmmmm...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...ohhhhhhhhhhhGodddddddddddddddGrissom..." she shivered and came with a shudder and almost felt her legs give out...she clutched her arms around his neck to keep her balance as she rode it out... He was smiling when she finally looked up, hair glued to her head from the sheen of sweat on her brow. She felt the quivering again when he pulled his fingers from her and deftly plunged them between his lips and sucked them clean... The second climax was drawn out as he kneaded her breasts and kissed her deeply sharing the tangy taste of her.

"So good...always so good with you..." he moaned into her mouth as she decided to pay him back. Sara listened at the door and when she didn't hear anything., decided to slip to he knees and see exactly what he was hiding under his hospital gown. ...


	38. Chapter 38

A/N: The next several chapters should not be read if you don't like SMUT., you've been warned from the very beginning that I'm a Die Hard GSR fan...and what can I say...if you don't like it...don't read it...otherwise, enjoy

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, someday...Billy will be mine...hehehehe...

Grissom's head was spinning, they were in their hospital room, his hips were pressed against his bed, his good arm back trying to keep him upright and Sara was on her knees under his hospital gown doing untold things with that soft, hot slick and oh so wet mouth of hers. He felt her softly blowing warm arm across the head of his erection and almost lost it.

"Saaaaarraaaa" he hissed through clenched teeth. She wouldn't let up; she cupped his balls gently and swiped her tongue around them, then softly licked the underside of his length causing him to buck upwards. Geeezzzzz goshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Saraaaaaaaaaa stopppppppppppppp" she was clearly enjoying herself and would have continued but she felt him suddenly tense and knew it wasn't his normal response.

"You okay?" Her head peaked out from under the gown and she caught the first sight of tears in his eyes. "Gil what's wrong?" she saw him trying to hold his rib area. "Oh my God did I hurt you?" she stood up and helped him on the bed while wiping her lips with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, I just got carried away and…." Gil lay gently down on the bed then took her hand.

"I just moved wrong, you didn't' hurt me, I'm just a little tender." he smiled up at her and pulled her down toward his body "I would love to have you continue…..if you're up to it?" he kissed her and it still surprised Sara that he would do that immediately after she'd gone down on him. The one time she'd tried to kiss a guy after that, he'd turned his head and asked her in very non polite terms to "Go brush your teeth, look where your mouth has been I am not about to kiss you after that!" it had been the last time she willing performed that little exercise.

"I should…"she tried to say something like rinse her mouth, brush her teeth, pop a mint but Gil was having none of hit and his mouth was securely fastened on hers, his tongue exploring and circling her own and she smiled. "Are you sure you're still up for it?" Gil lifted the blanket up and his hospital gown and smiled broadly.

"Oh, we're definitely 'up' for it.." he giggled like a little kid and laid back, arm behind his head. He watched her to see what she was going to do. "Are you?" he was teasing and loved how relaxed they could be together. Sara continued talking to him while her hand moved first to the side of the bed, then walking her fingers across the mattress, she move it toward his gown then under and up his hip. She felt him suck in a breath and continued moving toward her goal.

"Oh Bugman, you are certainly more than 'up for some fun' she wrapped her hand around his girth and gently squeezed and kneaded then moved her hand lightly up and down his length. He started to close his eyes and relax into the feeling

She saw the smile splayed on his face and watched as he slowly licked his lips. She lifted up his gown and gently lay over his legs and let her mouth surround him once more.

"Uggggggggggggggh Goddddddd" he swallowed and gulped. "Warn a man when you're going to do…..thaaaaatttttt" his teeth were chattering between breaths. "Soooooo good" his hand moved down to tangle in her hair as her head bobbed up and down and she sloppily sucked and licked his cock. He was close and when she increased her suction, started to move her hands in small wringing motions and then cupped his balls once again he lost it. With no warning, he shot stream after stream of hot sticky cum down her throat and she eagerly swallowed each ribbon. When she was done and he started to soften, she went and got a warm rag and towel to clean and dry him before attending to her own needs.

"Sara you're going to be the death of Me." he sighed contentedly while she administered to him. It amazed him, no woman had ever done the things Sara had been willing to do for him they'd look at it more like some obligation and payback for him having performed on them. It surprised him to have her willing clean up afterwards. Usually, the partner saw it as something you took care of yourself but Sara enjoyed the intimacy of this as much as the act itself. She was thrilled with the facts that he could relax, lay there and let her handle him in the manner necessary to clean and dry him. He was embarrassed the first time until she explained that she saw it as a continuation of an intimate moment and she was only too happy to do this for him. Afterwards, when he'd taken care of her needs and done the same, he clearly understood not only how it was for her, but how much trust a person had to have to let another do this as well.

She'd just finished rinsing out the rag and hanging the towel back on the towel bar when the nurse popped her head in. "Anything I can get you Mr. Grissom?" he was laying there, head on his pillow with the cutest smile on his face and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Nope, Sara here it taking care of ALL of my needs thanks….I'm good here!" his voice had only the slightest waiver from the afterglow and he signed once more, a deep contented sigh before Sara moved over and sat on the bed beside him. "She's amazing you know….always putting me first" he took her hand and kissed it. Sara felt tears come to her eyes but this time, they were tears of happiness for what she had. "Hey….hey Honey, why the tears? What's wrong?" he was instantly worried.

"I'm happy…I am honestly and truly happy for the first time in a long time, I have the man I've always dreamed of by my side, friends that love me and accept that we're together. A dog….I never thought I'd actually have a dog…and I can't believe you named him after "Hank!" she leaned forward and kissed him.

"I had to love you, I let you rename him…..Bruno!" he ran a finger gently along her jaw line. "I don't know what was wrong with naming him Hank…he was a dog!" he teased her again and she wrapped her hands around his neck. "Nurse, Nurse, you have to help me, my wife is trying to kill me!" he giggled as she pressed her lips to his again. At the mention of the word 'wife' she looked deeply into his eyes.

"I like that you call me that…..I really do want to marry you as soon as possible." she was serious yet giddy with excitement.

"why don't you call Catherine and tell her, you know if we don't have our friend there for the wedding, they're libel to hold that over our heads for the rest of our life…..or" he started to boost himself up on the pillows. "If you prefer, we can just have a minister come and marry us and I'll deal with the fallout!" he wanted her to understand that his desire to make her happy to precedence over the feelings of their coworkers.

"I think I'd like to do our original plans when you're up to it….." she lay her head gently on his chest and listened to the beating of his heart. She thought back to the times she'd wake crying and screaming from some awful dream and he would quietly gather her into his arms, press her head against his heart and rock her till the motion and the sound of the steady thrum would lull her back to slumber.

"Why don't we get married by a minister, then when we're up to it, both of us, are up to it…we can have a wedding like you deserve?" he was drawing small circular patterns on her back and waited for her response. "That way, you really will be my wife and….." he didn't know why he wanted to be married so suddenly... '_Yes you do, you almost lost her, she's back and you're hoping that marriage will make her stay forever." _The little voice inside reminded him. "If you want to that is." he swallowed the guilt of trying to hold her back "Unless….." she looked up and then kissed him.

"If you're thinking that by marrying me it will keep me here, I've already told you Mr. Grissom, you are stuck with me…Until Death…..Do….Us…Part." she kissed him deeply, her teeth caught his bottom lip and she signed into his mouth. "I know now that everything I want, everything I need is right here, in this room…" she kissed him yet again and he wrapped his good arm around her and pulled her into the bed with him. "We are so busted if the nurse comes back and catches me in bed with you." he snuggled against her and put a hand on her belly. The babies who had been quiet were suddenly quite active under his palm.

"I'll simply claim medical necessity to spend quality family time while hospitalized" he said with deep satisfaction. She rested against him and only the slow rhythmic breathing finally indicated that she'd finally fallen asleep against him. When the nurse finally did come in, it was with an understanding nod that she went about drawing his blood, checking stats and inquiring if there was anything else they needed before shift change. Gil shook his head and when she finally left, drew in a deep contented breath and followed Sara down the abyss of peace and slumber.

Later that evening, everyone decided to drop by. Gil had been given a sponge bath, the cute little candy striper had been a little too eager to begin her job and Sara had quickly reminded her that being his wife, she'd be the '_only one making him along with anything he owned squeaky clean_!' She'd taken the soap and towels along with the pan of warm water away from _'Little Florence Nightingale_' as Sara had so aptly dubbed her, and then shooed her from their room. Gil sat back with the strangest look on his face and a snicker he was having a hard time disguising.

"Is my wife jealous?" he'd wrapped a hand over her wrist as she rung out the soapy sponge to begin his bath. "You know, you really didn't have to do that, after all, it's her job, I'm sure she's seen better specimens than me" he batted his eyelashes at her. She gave him a look then cracked up laughing.

"You'd only ruin her for any other man that comes along…I was actually trying to save her from pining away her life when she realizes that I have the one and only prize on the planet and nothing and no one will ever live up to those expectations again!" she pulled his gown down and began soaping his upper extremities then rinsing and drying each area before moving on to the next area. When she'd finished she got him a new gown and then brought him new underwear that Catherine had picked up for him. She finished with his feet, something he had yet to get used to had been that someone could even enjoy touching his feet. He thought nothing of lying for hours messaging her feet. During movies he would pull her legs onto his lap and bend and stretch each of her toes but the first time she tried that with him, he'd quickly pulled them back and put them on the floor.

"What are you doing?" he sat up and stared at her like she'd just violated some sacred trust. Sara sat there looking dumbfounded.

"I was going to give you a foot massage." she stared at him like he was an alien. "You give one to me all the time; I was just returning the favor. She reached down and dragged one of his feet back onto her lap and removed his sock. Again he pulled his foot away. "I'm not going to tickle you" she pulled both his feet up again, removed the second sock and this time, when he tried to pull away, she was ready. "Dam it Gil!" she slapped his calf. "I'm not going to rip off your toes or tickle you, have you ever actually even had a foot massage?" she was incredulous. He looked up, shocked that she had actually struck him, and shook his head.

"My feet are not my best feature!" he was trying to find a way out of having her touch him. "I just don't……" she stopped him.

"You don't mind touching my feet!" she watched and waited for a response. "In fact, you seem to enjoy massaging my feet at the end of a busy night." she smirked "I thought you had a foot fetish when we started seeing each other" he blushed and looked away. "I'm doing this so you might just as well relax and enjoy it!" she reached over and pulled a bottle of hand and foot cream that was sitting beside them on the table. Gil used it on her all the time. She plopped a glob into her hand, rubbed them briskly together and began slathering the warm lotion on first one foot than the other, then she got down to the business of giving him his first thorough foot massage.

She started on the toes, making sure that each one was paid the utmost attention before moving onto its neighbor. Then she deftly slid her fingers between each toe and moved to the ball of his foot. When she curled her hand in a ball and then pressed her knuckles into the solid arch of his foot, she kneaded her hand back and forth and she heard him utter the most wonderful sound. "See, you like this a lot don't you?" He smiled and nodded. "I told you it's heavenly when done right." she moved from one area to the other and she could feel him bending and flexing his foot against her. "Why do you do that?" she stopped her movement and waited till he opened his eyes.

"Do what?" he reminded her of a contented teddy bear all sprawled across the sofa.

"Why is it you'll do all kinds of things to pamper me but when I try to reciprocate, you don't want me to, or you seem totally uncomfortable with it?" the question was fair and honest.

"I'm not….I tried…." he pulled his feet under him and sat up. "Sara, there have been times in my past when I've tried to give as good as I've gotten….not that I've gotten anything better than you've ever given to me, mind you" she could tell he was nervous, he'd begun rambling yet again and the blush on his cheeks told her that this was a hard moment of honesty for him. "I once went down….went….gave a woman….was going down…" his words fumbled and failed him.

"You were going down on a woman" she didn't know if she really wanted to hear this but if he was telling her, he must have had a point to make. She nodded for him to continue when he acknowledged what she'd said.

"I didn't think anything of it….I mean, she'd done it for me, I did ... it…for her…but when I went to kiss her, she acted like I'd just eaten a live bug and slapped the shit of out my face. I swore I would never make that mistake again" he couldn't make eye contact with her until she slid a palm under his chin and made him look up.

"I went down on a man," she saw him swallow and close his eyes for a moment "he enjoyed himself thoroughly, in fact, I didn't get…..that day" she knew he'd understand her pause. "He was into it, almost ripped my damned hair out and nearly choked me cause that's how it was done in the porno flicks so he said." she wouldn't let him look away. "When I was done, I tried to kiss him…he pushed me backwards on the floor and said to me "What the hell do you think you're doing you dumb bitch! Go brush your teeth, look where your mouth has been, I'm certainly not about to kiss you after that!" he gave me a swift kick in the ribs for my efforts. I never saw him again…and I never.…..I vowed I'd never do it again……until I met you, then I couldn't wait!" she waggled her eyebrows and smiled that huge Sara smile. Gil pulled her in for a soul searching kiss that made her toes curl.

"Honey, I think when a woman does that for a man….it's a gift that shouldn't be taken lightly." he kissed her again. "the fact that you do it and I might add, you do it very, very well.." his arched brow made him look serious "and very willingly for me is something that I, that amazes me." he kissed her eye lids, her cheeks and the tip of her nose. "And I think there is something very, very erotic about sharing the taste of yourself with your lover afterwards" he sucked in her bottom lip and nibbled on it gently. "The first time I did that for you and you let me kiss you afterwards….." he couldn't' finish, the sensations he remembered had sent him into orbit.

"It was strange to taste myself on your lips" she admitted having until then to never having had someone even interested in doing more than giving for what they got, there was no romance, no tenderness she now considered if truth be known. The first time that Gil had touched her she remembered laying there, shivering as his hands skimmed down her sides as his finger played with the lace string of her thong. He'd tenderly lifted her hips to rid her of the garment that he'd apparently later pocketed much to her amusement when she went looking or it during laundry day and realized it was missing.

"Sara, relax" he had gently laid her on the bed and kissed every inch of available skin, then his hands followed the trail his lips had left. He moved from her collarbone to her breast giving each undivided attention till she was arching and writhing under his caresses. His feather light touches moved to the hollow of each hip and his tongue moved to her belly button where he labored for a few moments until her giggles told him it was time to move further south. As he slid the silken material down, his mouth and lips followed along the path laid bare. He'd slide his finger down her cleft through the darkened patch of fur covering her mound. When he had delved a single finger between her folds, he found her warm, wet and waiting for him. As he moved up to watch her, he curled one and then two fingers and gently slide them inside of her warm cavern and wiggled them just so. Sara bit her bottom lip and moaned. "This is about you my love" he kissed her soundly then slid down to where his fingers had been.

With two skillful fingers, he parted her folds and lapped at her warm, glistening skin. His tongue moved in circles around her clit and then he gently sucked in the swelling nub. He pushed the folds further back opening her like a flower laid bare for his desires and indicated for her to spread her legs a little more and she complied as she arched up to meet his mouth. His tongue covered from front to back and when it found her opening, it pushed in as far as he could go and she moaned in ecstasy. She'd come hard and fast and at one point, she'd quickly closed her legs around his head and for a brief moment, Gil pictured himself being found dead, face buried in his lovers folds having drowned in her copious fluids. He drank like a man starving for his last ounce of liquid and the fluids she provided were to him, a gift of renewed life. When he was done, he slid up beside her and asked quietly. "I'd like to kiss you now, may I?" he'd learned his lesson the hard way.

Sara turned to him and wrapped her hands around his face as she drew him in for a searing kiss. As his mouth plundered hers, she could taste the tang and salt of herself on his lips, on his tongue and though she might have thought it would be disgusting, with Gil it was a new sensation that when he finally entered her, pushing to the hilt, the combination of what he was doing to her with his cock and mouth was what had her falling off the edge of an abyss followed close behind the man she willing would have jumped with. When they were through, satiated and spent, they lay entwined in each other laughing and kissing like teenagers. "Wow!" she couldn't' voice more than that and the smile on his face mirrored the exact feelings she shared.


	39. Chapter 39

A/N: No smut here...but some back stories that will give Grissom insight into the things that make his CSI's tick...some deal with child abuse (sexual) and though not detailed, might offend some people, I personally felt they were necessary for my story and hope you enjoy another chapter. I can't believe that I've made it this far and the reviews are phenomenal and keep me going...thank you everyone for your continued support.

Dad is doing better for those that asked and will be going for either a mitral valve repair/replacement based on his doctor's visit on Nov 28, thank you for the support and sympathy to those that expressed it at the loss of one of our beloved dogs Elsa...it's been a rollercoaster ride and writing has helped keep me going.

Enjoy!

The therapy had gone well and within two weeks, both Sara who had gained enough weight to make her obstetrician happy and Gil who was now moving his arm more freely and had the stitches removed the day before were finally being allowed to go home.

"I have to say, though I've enjoyed the care, I can't wait to sleep in our own bed" Gil was slipping his shoes on and had to lift his foot so Sara could tie the laces. It was still a little painful for him to fully bend and stretch but was getting easier by the day. "I'll be glad when I can finally dress myself" he teased her as she stood up with a bit of effort, her body trying to adjust to a different center of gravity.

"Just when you're doing your own laces, I won't be able to see mine!" she smirked and then leaned into him for another kiss. It was funny, for two people who at one time seemed like any public display of affection would cause the earth to fall of kilter, they now couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other and the team had commented the night before as they'd sat around the room sharing Chinese food. It had been an impromptu dinner because the team knew they were getting released the next day.

"Will you two get a room already. it's like knowing my parents are still having sex!" Greg covered his eyes as his Moo Shoo pork almost fell on his lap.

"I have to tell you Sar, I never pictured Grissom to be a groping kinda guy!" Warrick sat next to Catherine with his arm casually draped around the strawberry blonds' shoulder.

"You're just jealous because he can do that and you..." she laughed as he leaned over and planted a kiss on her lips. "We still have to be careful because of..."

"Ecklie!" the rest of the team shouted and laughed. They all fully understood that now that he was unable to do much about Grissom and Sara's relationship, he was out hunting for bear on anyone else bending the rules.

"So have you two decided when the big day is?" Grissom looked at Sara and the glances she was giving him were full of guilt and something else.

"Let me guess..." Catherine stood up. "The two of you couldn't wait, probably paid the hospital minister to marry you and now you simply plan on not having a wedding?" she paced, hands on hips. "I can't believe it, I went out, picked the perfect dress for this and..."

Sara laughed and leaned against Gil. "No, we're having a wedding...just like we originally planned" she smiled, "We couldn't deny you the pleasure of seeing Warrick and Greg doing the Chicken dance.

"I wanna see Grissom do it!" Greg was giggling while trying to suck in a pan fried noodle.

"I second that!" Nick held up a bottle of iced tea. "I can just picture him, hands under his armpits wiggling his ass..."

"Hey, my husband..." _'oops, way to go Sidle/Grissom...dumb ass' _she admonished herself as all the heads in the room turned toward the pair at the same time..."to-be...husband-to-be" she thought she covered it until Catherine turned toward her again. "My husband-to-be has a very cute ass and I do not intend to share the sight of him wiggling it with anyone else!" Catherine stalked toward the two of them, hands once again planted on her hips.

"You called him your husband..." she pointed with her finger. "You specifically called him "_My husband_!" She looked from Sara to Gil waiting for either of them to spill the truth. "Out with it...you did, you got married!" she wasn't going to let it go. "You couldn't wait could you?" Warrick came up behind her and gently took her by the shoulders.

"Catherine, look at them" he turned her toward their friends "If we could, we'd be married yesterday am I right?" she stared at her friends then looked over her shoulder into Warrick's sea green eyes and nodded. "They've been through hell..." his hands kneaded her shoulders and up to her neck. "If they decided they needed to get married...I'm happy for them...and it's not like they're canceling the original plans...right guys?" Sara nodded and smiled leaning against Gil who had wrapped his arms around Sara., it felt good to be able to use his injured side now. "So...is he your husband or husband-to-be?" Warrick figured that the sooner they got it out, the faster Catherine could get to her plans.

"I'm sorry Cath, it was my idea, I decided that we shouldn't wait another moment and asked the Hospital minister if he would consider marrying us., he's a friend of a priest I know"

"The one from..." Nick couldn't recall the parish name but remembered the church and the case they'd covered. Gil nodded.

"He said he'd be honored and we were married two days ago." he kissed Sara's neck and smiled so huge that even Catherine couldn't be mad at him for long. "I'd like you all to meet Mrs.Sara Jayne Grissom."

"Grissom? You're not hyphenating?" Catherine had just assumed she might. Sara looked up at Gil who nodded in affirmation that she was free to tell them if she was comfortable.

" Sara Sidle was buried in the desert where Natalie buried me under that car." she took a deep breath. "I left because I thought that what I needed was to reconnect to my past. It hasn't been an easy thing, I came up through the system after my Mother killed my father!" she had their attention now. "She had enough of him beating my brother" Nick shifted in his chair. "My brother is still alive as is my Mother who recently got out of prison...I went to California to see if I could..." she felt tears sting her eyes and Grissom tighten his hold on her. The others waited respectfully for her to regain her composure. "if we could mend fences...but that didn't work out quite the way I planned...I guess in the end it's better for both of us." she took a tissue that Catherine quietly offered her. "My brother got away from my father before he was able to do any real or permanent damage to him but I wasn't so lucky" she looked at Nick and Greg who had exchanged worried glances. "He was a drunk and both of my parents were heavily into drugs...one night, he came home and noticed that I wasn't the 'little girl' anymore. She sighed and continued.

"One night, he'd been arguing with my Mother about how he wanted '_it_' now and if she wasn't going to give it to him, he'd have to move up the 'food chain' as he called it...my Mother didn't get it at the time and left for her part-time job as a waitress, my Father didn't work, it was easier to deal with drugs and drinking...but that night., I was in my room and he decided that if he couldn't get it from my Mother...he'd take it from me" she seemed to sink further into Grissom.

"Sara, if you're uncomfortable...you don't have to do this!" Greg, tonight seeming older than his years offered his friend a hand.

"Yes I do...I really, really do...I need for you all to know why I am the way..." Catherine looked at her and smiled not knowing what else to say.

"He came in my room and told me he was going to take what was his. All I remember afterwards was the pain and blood, he'd tried to make me...go...go down..." she heard and audible gasp from the direction of Nick. "I bit him and he back handed me across the room. He beat me with a belt so badly that the buckle left scars on my back. After he banged my head off the wall and it appeared that I couldn't fight back...he...he...took what he came for..." she buried her face in her hands and Catherine came up to hug her. "When my Mother came home...he was sitting in the living room, apparently quite pleased with himself. He had the audacity to tell her all about how '_he'd made his little girl into a real woman_'...and she lost it. She went into the kitchen and while his back was turned, changing the television channels, she stabbed him to death." Gil kissed the side of her neck and rubbed comforting hands up and down her shoulders. "You see now Catherine?" she didn't have to finish the question. Catherine now finally understood why the domestic and child abuse cases bothered her so much.

"Oh My God Sara, I'm so sorry, I had no idea..." she hugged the younger woman and looked into the blue cerulean eyes of her best friend. "I am so, so very sorry sweetie..." she remembered how she'd pushed Ecklie to try to force Gil into firing Sara for being insubordinate during a murder investigation. Sara had been sure the husband had killed his mail order bride and it had caused a huge rift in the team for a long period when Gil had told Ecklie in no uncertain terms that he was NOT going to fire her.

Nick stood up and came over toward his friend. "You're not the only one who was sexually abused Sar...mine wasn't a family member" he wiped away the tears and looked at Catherine who knew exactly what he had been addressing. "Mine was a babysitter and I was only 9 when it happened" he hugged her then lifted her face with his hands. "It's like I told Catherine...it's what makes us who we are...it makes us able to do the jobs we do...it's not right., but it becomes a part of what we are...not what we have to be!" he kissed her lightly on the lips and looked at Grissom to make sure he hadn't overstepped any boundaries.

Grissom's jaw was slack in disbelief. tonight he was finding out about things that had been hidden for years. He was getting insight into the private lives of the team that had made themselves his family and he was stunned. It suddenly explained a lot, why Nick was able to empathize with victims., why Sara was the way she was about domestic spousal and child abuse cases which he'd known since the fateful day he'd chosen to dig deeper and make her tell him why she'd been insubordinate to Ecklie and Catherine. He knew that Greg's family still didn't know he had graduated from the lab. That Warrick, because of his own final courage to go after what he'd had dangling in front of him for years, had finally himself stepped up to the plate and asked Catherine out. That Catherine finally had the happiness or was heading for it, that Gil had known all those years ago she'd deserved. It amazed and awed him.

"I would like to invite you all for dinner tomorrow night in our house..." Gil and Sara smiled at each other, to celebrate Sara's welcome home, Catherine and Warrick getting together., my marriage" he kissed his wife passionately and everyone simply smiled. "Sara and I are going to take the next two weeks and hopefully find a bigger home somewhere nearby our current neighborhood. Hank/Bruno...our dog is in love with this feisty little French Bull dog named Isadora and we can't break his heart by taking him away from his girl." he was teasing them now.

"Hank? you named the dog after Sara's old flame?" Greg stood up laughing loudly "What an absolutely frigg'n perfect name!" he looked at Sara who gave him a smirk. "Come on Sid., Grissom...omg, this is too weird, now I can't call you Gris without her answering me...I'm so confused" he grabbed his head and sat down. "Does this mean I get to call you Gil?" he knew he was pushing it by the look he received from everyone who immediately chimed in.

"No!"

"Can I call you Gilbert?" Catherine decided to stick her two cents in.

"You do Catherine and I'm telling everyone your stage name!" she shot him a look that clearly said _'You wouldn't dare_!' he was laughing so hard his side started to ache.

"You had a stage name?" Warrick, who had his arms wrapped tightly around her waist pulled her back into him. "And you didn't share it with me...? Oh, I'm so getting that out of you tonight!" the dare was put on the table.

"Think again Warrick Brown...no one but Gil and Brass know what my stage name was and neither of them will tell unless they like the thought of castration by hand...and I mean I will rip them off..." Sara was giggling at the way the redhead was demonstrating her grab technique on Warrick who's hands shot in the air.

"Leave the family jewels alone Cat!" he hissed and backed away quickly when her attention turned back to Gil.

"Cat? You get to call her Cat?" Greg had done it on one or two occasions and Catherine had quickly put him in his place making it clear in no uncertain terms that he was never to refer to her as that again! He wasn't taking any chances now.

"When you're doing the Cat" Warrick felt the elbow collide with his ribcage. "Never mind Greg...you don't get to call her Cat!" he rubbed at the area that would no doubt be bruised by morning. "You throw a wicked punch lady" he backed away but kept his hands on her hips.

"Well, I for one am looking forward to going home!" Gil smiled and hugged Sara to him again. "Thank you all for visiting with us today" he was trying nicely to shoo them out of the room so he and Sara could get moving. "If we stay any longer, I'm sure the nurses will bill us for another day at the Casa Del Grissom spa..." he nipped the earlobe that was nearest to him and felt her jump.

"What time do you want us to pick you up?" Nick checked his watch and stretched.

"We were going to take a cab..." but Catherine shook her head "Oh no... you will not take a cab, have you seen what gets into those things?" she knew of Sara's disdain for bodily fluids and the other gunk they'd found enough times while going over cabs that had been involved in crime scenes.

"Catherine's right...I'd rather have one of the guys drive us home" Sara added and thanked Catherine for the picture she'd just placed in her head.

"Okay, we should be out by 10:00 and then we'll go home, get some lunch and start house shopping" he had it all planned out. The team left shortly after having decided that Warrick and Catherine would probably pick them both up and take them home. Later they planned to meet again at their house and have dinner together. Gil was starting to relax with his team around him.


	40. Chapter 40

A/N: Another cute but not smut chapter., thank again for the awesome reviews...and I hope you enjoy..who knew I would get to chapter 40 and still be able to hold your attention...

When Sara and Gil had finally arrived at home, it was amazing, Catherine had graciously had a cleaning service come in and the house was shining from top to bottom. The floors were washed and waxed, counters were gleaming. The appliances, stainless steel that Gil had recently installed were glistening in the sun that was streaming through the newly washed windows. She'd gone all out. There was a vase of fresh flowers on the kitchen table, plants had been watered and beds had been striped bare then made and fluffed.

"Oh my...this place is..." Sara stood just inside the door while Gil came up short behind her.

"Sterilized?" He added as he looked around, slack jawed and surprised.

"Catherine!" they both added at the same time. Sara took his jacket and hers and hung them in the small hallway closet then walked into the kitchen which had been cleaned when they'd left...and she assumed had been kept up in her absence but this was beyond anything she could have ever imagined. The ringing phone took them both by surprise.

"Grissom?" He wasn't used to having to answer the house phone, normally he received just about all of his calls on the cell phone that never seemed to leave his side.

"Hey, this is Cath, did you get my present?" Grissom smiled and indicated to Sara that Catherine was indeed behind the great cleaning epidemic. "I hope you don't mind my being so forward but you have 7 walk thrus scheduled today...I kinda..."

"We have what?" his voice was full of surprises and Sara, who'd been bent over looking at the fully stocked fridge turned around, water bottle in her hand. "Catherine, how could you do that without even consulting us? His face was a slight shade of crimson, a clear sign that his blood pressure was on the rise.

"Listen Gil, the sooner you do this, the sooner you and Sara can move into a nice new home, and I happen to have the best Realtor in town" she was pushing she knew but Catherine was aware that unless Sara or someone gave him a slight kick in the ass to get started, he'd do his usual procrastination and put it off, they'd have two babies crammed in his town home, probably stuffed in the office along side his aquariums of tarantulas and various other 6 and 8 legged creatures. "You know as well as I do that you will put this off..."

"Not l likely Catherine, my WIFE can handle setting up walk thrus and appointments with a Realtor when the time comes!" his tone was sharp and he realized it when he heard her at first gasp then sniffle on the other end of the phone.

"Well I'm sorry, my intentions were good but if you want I'll call and cancel the..."

"Never mind, I hope you don't intend for us to be here when this happens today!" not a question, it was clearly evident that she'd overstepped once again and his reminder that he now had a wife was a clear indication that he was putting her in her place. Sara took the phone from Grissom and handed him her opened bottle of water.

"Hi Cath, it's Sara what's going on?" she had gleaned enough information to know that first, their town home was now on the market, they apparently had strangers coming to look over the house, which explained why Catherine had found the need to sterilize her house from top to bottom.

"Listen, I meant well, surely you know that Sara...I wanted to surprise you and Gil and try to make things easier by contacting the best Realtor in the state who just happens to be a good friend of mine, she's wiling to show your house for you and in fact, she's scheduled 7 walk thrus just today and I was hoping that I could get you guys out for the day...I know it's your first day out of the hospital, I know it's really not convenient but she had people dying to move into the area and she's seen your place and thinks it will go fast...and if you don't mind, I have a couple showings for you...I heard Gil say you were interested in several bedrooms, office space, large family room...and two of the places I've seen even have pretty large decks and backyards..." she would have continued until Sara cut her off.

"Catherine...Cat...slow down" she was laughing at how Catherine was rambling on and on., her heart was in the right place but she was a tad bit overbearing. Sara had hoped to scout out houses with Gil and make it enjoyable..."Look, let me talk to Gil and see if he's up to this, understand, I am okay with it but he's the one who has been through hell so it's really about how much he wants to do in a day...okay?" Catherine acknowledged what she was saying and just asked them to call her back. Sara hung up the phone and turned toward where Gil had been, he was not there now and was off walking through rooms..

"Hey" she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "If you don't want to give up this place, we really can make do" she knew it was hard on him giving up the place he'd called home. She had felt the same when she'd finally given up her apartment. Gil had found her curled with a pillow amid a myriad of boxes, some packed some not crying her eyes out. It had been the only place she'd called home since the fateful day Gil Grissom had asked her to come to Vegas and finally stay on as a member of his team. She'd gone out and looked at place after place and when she found the cozy albeit small place she knew immediately that she wanted it and had put a deposit down that very minute. The thought of giving it up had been hard and Grissom had given her the same option.

"We can keep it, you don't have to give it up if you don't want to..." he had sat down and they'd talked about all the memories she had, those that they'd created together and within a week, Sara had realized that the memories remain inside of you, it didn't matter where you were as long as you were with someone you loved. She'd signed over the lease to the landlord who was sorry to see her leave and found out that in a matter of days, the apartment had been rented to another young woman just starting out in Vegas.

"No...I was just thinking..." he leaned back into her "How far we've come in such a short time" he gave a big sign.

"Are you okay with this? The babies., me being back?" she pressed her cheek into the space between his shoulder blades and hugged him tightly. His hands came down over where hers were resting on his stomach and he squeezed them gently. He could feel little tremors coming from her abdomen against his back and smiled.

"I'm more than okay Sara" he turned in her arms and wrapped her within a warm solid embrace. "I wasn't complete when you were gone, I thought I saw you in crowds, on streets where I was walking. I almost got run over by a taxi cab once because I wasn't paying attention, thought I saw you and ran across the boulevard convinced that I could catch you and bring you back. It wasn't you and the woman probably thought I was some crazy idiot when I grabbed her arm and called her Sara." he laughed now at the memory but back then., it had been the beginning of a downward spiral in which he didn't think he'd ever find the bottom.

"I'm sorry I left you..." she kissed his chin. "More sorry than you can ever know..." she moved her lips along his jaw line and felt him tremble. "I thought I had to leave to find what was missing in my life., or what I thought was missing but when I got to where I was sure I needed to be, I realized that it wasn't where I needed to be and that home, with you...here in Vegas is where my life is...right here, you and me, Bruno and the kids.." he was rocking her back and forth. He looked into the caramel pools before him and for a brief moment, only feathered her brow, nose and eyes with soft subtle kisses.

"Home...that sounds wonderful!" he hummed against her satin skin. "What else did she have to say?" he knew there was more but figured Sara would tell him in time.

"She has several walk thrus scheduled today., she wants to take us out for brunch." She hugged him "And...she apparently found a couple, well...she scheduled us to see a couple houses ourselves." she waited for his response which came in the form of him stiffening slightly. "She means well...and honestly, what can it hurt?" she kinda liked the idea that she wouldn't have to scrub the town house to get it ready, that was all taken care of. "We could see what's out there and get an a head start on things?" her inquisitive tone made him soften a bit.

"Honey, if that's what you want to do...we'll do it" he hugged her then walked back to his office to get reacquainted with his arachnid friends. She almost doubled over with laughter when she saw him handling one of his favorite spiders. "Hello Rosie, did you miss Daddy?" she'd never heard him speak to it in the tone he was using and she could just as easily see him with their children. "Did Uncle Greg take real good care of you?" he was petting the spider's back and it's front legs were splayed in a relaxed manner. Sara had to cover her mouth and walk away. She picked up the phone and called Catherine back to tell her they'd be free that afternoon.

Three hours later, Catherine had picked them up and shown them the first of the two houses. One was not to Sara's liking, she didn't think that the children's bedrooms which like the Master were on the second floor, should be the nearest to the stairs. "Call me overprotective Gil but if someone did get in the house, I would much prefer they have to pass our room." He quickly agreed with her assessment of the layout and it was quickly crossed off their shopping list.

The second was a tri-level that opened with a comfortable front room including a fireplace that had been done in a soft terracotta coloring. The fireplace was slightly rustic and gave the room a warm appeal. Going down the hallway, there was a small coat closet and a guest powder room and then the layout opened into the kitchen which included a large eating area that looked out over an expansive backyard through sliding glass doors with the blinds embedded inside two panes of thermal glass.. The counters were an darker earthy granite that played well against all of the honey oak cabinets and oak wooden floors.. Stainless steel appliances would stay with the house, which both Sara and Gil liked instantly. "At least we won't have to worry if we leave ours behind" he smiled. The kitchen overlooked a sunken family room that was very large and airy. Windows surrounded the back of the home and opened to a small walk out patio. Off the family room, was a full bathroom and laundry room that opened to the garage area which was nice if you had to come home and jump into the shower instead of tracking dirt and mud through the entire house. "I like this, the kids could wash up down here after playing outside" she looked around at the spacious areas.

"What's the room over there?" Gil inquired of the Realtor.

"That's actually a double office, the husband and wife that lived here before were both doctors and liked to work out of their home when they had the opportunity, it was nice because they only needed to close the French doors between them and they had their own spaces." Sara looked at Gil as he quickly opened the door and peaked inside.

"I like this set up...we could each have space and my 'collection' would be far enough away from the kids to keep everyone" he winked at Sara "safe." The rooms had plenty of space for their two desks and built in shelves would accommodate most of his aquariums with a little addition of lights that he was sure they could have installed in no time.

"Can we see the bedrooms?" Sara was eager to continue on their venture.

Upstairs there were four of them, two were connected by a shared bathroom while one off by itself had a small 3/4 bath which included a shower, sink and basin. "This would make a nice guest room." She loved the shared bathroom between what they considered the _'Jack and Jill bedrooms' _"This would make bath time a little easier with the space in here, we could install a changing table and there's plenty of room when the kids grow up" she was imagining them all living in the house.

"Eventually, when they're older I'm sure they'll want their own bathrooms" Gil could imagine his daughter's already considering all the bottles of shampoos, conditioners, bath salts and lotions that Sara had gathered in their own place. "We could easily close off one of the doorways and make this an individual with its own bathroom and then move one of the kids to guest room" she nodded liking how he was thinking ahead. "I hope the yard is big?" The Realtor smiled.

"I think you'll be quite surprised" and led the way back downstairs. They made their way out to the deck that sat off the kitchen eating area and leaned over the railing. The yard was huge, almost U shaped around the whole house. There was a swimming pool on one side that was fenced off for safety. An area where they'd apparently had a dog was closed off with gravel footing and a nice patch of grass which would be convenient to train Bruno to use.

"They've thought of everything!" Gil hugged Sara and looked around. There was a huge tree in the yard that was fully leaved and another that looked like it had seen better days.

"We could have that removed!" Sara pointed but Gil firmly shook his head.

"We could level off the branches and build a tree house for the kids...it's perfect!" he was really looking interested in the property. "We haven't seen the master bedroom yet My Dear!"


	41. Chapter 41

A/N: Waiting on tomorrow's show, I for one will keep the happy couple riding roller coasters for awhile but am hoping that she doesn't break off the engagement., or would be happy to find out they got married and she just needs to go find herself...please send tissue, bathtowels...a mop...Enjoy, in my world...Sara doesn't get to leave forever...

The master bedroom was sumptuous., that's the only word that came to Sara's mind as the double doors were thrown open, possibly for effect by the Realtor that Catherine had scheduled them with. The room opened to a sitting area, where a huge big screen television hung on the wall over the fireplace.

"It's wood burning and gas so you can use either or..." she moved about. "The owners are leaving the television., guess it's incentive to buy the house" she chuckled lightly. "There are two huge walk in closets on each side of the master bath suite." she led the way further into the room. The walls were done in a soft sea foam green and the curtains and bedding ensemble fit the room perfectly. "They're leaving those along with the curtains as well" she watched both Sara and Gil to see where their interest moved to next. There were floor to ceiling windows on each side of the fireplace that looked out over the back yard. "It makes it easier to watch the kids when you're up here" she smiled slyly. Gil and Sara exchanged bemused looks as she turned and walked around. "The room, as you see easily holds a king size bed" she pointed to the one that was seated in the middle of the wall. "There's an office area right off the room to the left but it could double as a temporary nursery...lots of parents like to keep their baby in or near their room for the first couple weeks" she cast a quick glance at Sara's stomach when she said that.

"That's not a bad idea" Gil laid his hand on the small of her back as they proceeded into the master bath. Luxury was everywhere and Sara was starting to doubt that they could afford such opulence. The tub was a deep sunken jacuzzi whirlpool tub made of marble with beautiful antique faucets. Beside that was a shower that could easily hold the entire family, complete with a seating area that had Sara picturing the ease of shaving her legs and Gil picturing '_other_' options. The doors were clear with the exception of all things, beautifully etched butterflies and dragonflies. "Seems almost fitting for us doesn't it?" his hand gently caressed the designs.

"It's beautiful Gil but how can we afford this?" She whispered in a hushed tone. "Honestly, it's almost too perfect for us., it has everything we wanted or could ever want..."How are the schools around here and how close are they?" she turned to the Realtor hoping now to find something that would make the house less appealing.

"Well, there are several in the area, all within walking distance., Public, Private and Catholic., plenty of reputable day care centers that take infants, there is a huge park only 3 blocks away and the Mother's group that meets there has their own built in babysitting service." she stated with an ever widening grin. "The sellers are very, very motivated to sell this place, apparently the husband's mother passed away and left them quite a place out East, you'd be surprised at how low they're willing to go to get this place sold and it is a buyer's market right now." she winked. Little did they know, Catherine had talked to her quite extensively after seeing the place and had told her that under no circumstances were they to be told about their conversation but to find out what they could afford and she'd gladly pay off the difference. Gil would have wrung her neck had he known this before hand.

"Well, what do you both think?" she looked from one to the other of them. "It's quite a home, the area has the lowest crime rate, families still sit out on their front porches., kids abound in this neighborhood" she was extolling the virtues that were making it harder and harder to refuse. "You can't beat the location, it's very near to your work from what Catherine has told me" she continued following them around as they made last minute notes and measurements. "Why don't I give you a little time alone, I can go out to my car and make a few phone calls while you look around?" Gil nodded that he thought this was the best course of action.

They were alone about 5 minutes, walking from room to room. Sara was leaning against the door frame of what would be one of the children's rooms. "What are you thinking?" Gil walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"This is huge...us, kids...a house!" She answered honestly with a sigh as she leaned her head back against his collarbone. She felt his arms tighten and his lips caress the side of her cheek.

"Yup, it is..." he smiled "pretty overwhelming but certainly not insurmountable" he kissed her again then turned her around. "Are you afraid?" she looked down and it took him lifting her chin with a hand to make her look into his eyes. "I'm scared too" he admitted with an openness that took her breath away. "I'm afraid sometimes that this is all a dream and I'll wake up and find out that I'm still alone...and old..." he breathed softly. "I'm afraid that I don't deserve you, these two children...any of this..." he continued and she listened carefully. "But then I come home, you're there and you make it all better, I get up, you're beside me...and I know it's not a dream..." he smiled then kissed her. "So Mrs.Grissom, do we jump in with both feet?" he looked around. "I was picturing that shower and thinking about..."

Sara was giggling "Me? Shaving my legs., it would be so nice just to have some place to put my foot up and not have to be a damned contortionist" she knew _'exactly' _what he'd been thinking of when he spotted that shower. His evil little grin and laugh told her she was right on course with his thoughts. "That tub would fit the entire family" she looked back into the luxury ladened room.

"Or us and a few wine glasses, lots of candles and did you see, there's a stereo/intercom system throughout the entire house and it apparently goes outside and in the garage as well. That would be nice." he couldn't actually find anything about the house that didn't fit their needs or those that might come up in the future. "We could relax in that tub...or..." he waggled his brows at her..."and listen to some nice Classical music...while we're at it." he added for emphases. Sara snuggled against him.

"Well, we'll have to see if we can afford this place" she looked around, hoping that it would somehow be in their price range. "I never told Catherine what we could or couldn't afford...but I'm sure she has some idea regarding our salaries...and if we could actually sell the damned town house quick enough..." just then Grissom's cellphone chirped.

"Ah, that would be Catherine" he put the phone to his ear. "Grissom!" he nodded to Sara to show it was indeed their friend and coworker. "Yes Cat, we're at the house now...no the first one wasn't what we ...yes, we're at the second house...yes, it's absolutely...uh huh...yeah...it's ... what?" his eyes widened with a pure look of astounded shock. " Someone made an offer on the town house already?" he looked at Sara who was standing there dumbfounded. "What are we talking here?" he had to know if the money from one would make a sizable dent in the mortgage of the other. He actually owned the town home free and clear. "That's twice what I originally paid for it...!" his voice was full of amused surprise. "I don't know how quickly...we haven't decided...well yes we do ... she loves it as much as I do...but we haven't even talked about the price...yes she said it was ... well, I know she made that comment but..." Catherine was apparently rambling again and Gil was losing the battle to get a single sentence in edgewise. Sara took the phone from him and put a hand on his chest.

"Catherine, it's Sara...we haven't made a decision yet...when we do we'll let you ..." Catherine went on to tell her the number the buyer was talking in regards to the town home...she didn't know what Gil had paid for it but the amount they were willing to buy it for sounded almost outrageous. "Cath, that's all well and good, but we don't even know what they're asking..." Catherine apparently filled her in and the price sounded too good to be true. "You're kidding me right? For this house? That's...what they expect to get and they're not ...?" She turned toward Gil and shrugged her shoulders. "Cath, how can that be?" she leaned heavily against the edge of the bed now. "I can't believe that they're asking for this house...as much as they're offering for Gil's, our place!" she frowned at Grissom who was trying to hear as much as he could but only catching every few words now that he had his head pressed against Sara's with the cellphone between them.

Catherine continued to sell them on the idea and neither for the moment were winning in the conversation with her. "You have to admit Sara., when I find them...I find them!" she was proud of herself knowing that Cynthia the Realtor was willing to help her get them in the perfect home. "Tell me it's not everything you described and more?" They couldn't, it held everything they'd originally thought they would settle for and so much more. "Imagine the team, swimming in that pool...and you and Gil can unwind in that huge tub...the rooms are perfect for a family...the yard is perfect for the drool machine you have and you have space to work out of your house is you needed to and Gil has plenty of space for those..."

"Watch it!" Grissom was laughing at her continued disdain for his creatures.

"Well, you should probably make a decision soon, I can't imagine that house will be on the market long, in fact...it only came up 3 days ago...but it's too beautiful to pass up if you ask me..." she was just about to hang up. "Good luck with whatever you decide and by the way, let Cynthia know if you want to accept the offer on your town house, the people loved the layout and ... they're really eager to hear from you." with that she hung up and left the two of them to make a huge decision.


	42. Chapter 42

A/N: Thanks again for your patience, these have been done but I have had life interrupt me for a few days., I'm back on course and hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Yeah, if they were mine, they wouldn't have to walk the picket line...hahahahaha!

They had done it, signed the papers after finding out that their houses would pretty much pay for themselves. They weren't aware that Catherine had finagled the Realtor into getting the bottom line price on the home they were buying and getting the top of the line on Gil's town home but finagle she did and it didn't require anything more than a swift conversation. The Realtor, with promises of being at the top of the Braun totem pole as far as getting her foot in the door at some of the best deals in town, considering that Catherine was now running Sam's empire was all to eager to do whatever it took. The owners were thrilled to have Vegas put behind them and gave their blessing to the deal. The couple that bought Gil and Sara's place were to High profile lawyers and when the husband found out he'd be residing in the former home of The Gil Grissom whom he'd read about in newspapers and Forensic articles, was more than willing to plunk down the required price, no questions asked.

"Well, we did it Baby" he kissed her cheek as they made their way to the SUV parked outside their new home. The Realtor had made yet another series of phone calls and since, coincidental or not, the buyers., sellers and the Grissom's were all familiar with the same banking institution, things moved faster then either of them realized and they were named owners before they left the house.

"Just need to pick up the keys from the bank tomorrow" the Realtor had hugged them both and wished them well. "Now, how quickly can you be out of your old place?" she was eager to get the commissions that would put her on a fast track to a really nice vacation.

"Well., we'll have to pack...call and have the electric, gas and phone shut off and then started up here" Gil looked around "Then we'll have to hire movers and get that lined up, maybe take a couple days off to get ourselves settled..." his head was reeling. "I can call you when we have all that lined up" he took her card, shook her hand and then led Sara out to the car.

"We have soooo much to do now Gil" she looked around. "Most of the rooms in the new place can pretty much stay the colors they are, at least for now, I have no plans to really change the Master Bedroom I love that sea foam green color...and God, can you just imagine their bathroom...I mean...our bathroom..." she was so excited that she was hanging on his neck like a young child "I'm so happy...how about you? Are you okay with all this?" she looked deeply into his eyes to see how he was taking this all in. "I know this happened so suddenly, we only just started to look and wow, this place...wow...!" her eyes were dancing and she was talking a mile a minute.

"Well, I wouldn't put it past..." they'd been driving toward their town house and had just pulled down the street when Gil looked up in the middle of his conversation..."Son of a bitch..." there in front of his house sat Catherine's car and a moving van...she was leaning on the hood carrying a conversation with three men. Sara saw the tightness in Gil's face as he got closer and closer to their house.

"Hey!" she actually looked chipper and innocent "I was thinking, with the schedule and everything..." Grissom grabbed her by the arm, looked at the three men she'd been chatting with and smiled.

"You'll excuse us won't you?" and he looked at Sara as if to say he wanted to handle Catherine alone. She didn't know whether to follow them inside or wait with the movers or possibly get in the car and disappear, one way or the other, someone was coming out of that house very unhappy. He moved Catherine up the stairs with a none to gentle hand under her elbow. "We need to talk!" she looked like she wanted to argue but his grip tightened and she followed him inside.

"Grissom., I was just looking out..." he cut her off with a raised hand.

"I know you mean well, honestly Cath I do but this is way above and beyond..." he was pacing and she refused to sit..."I have a wife, in case anyone forgets that and hard as it seems to believe to some of you, I have a wife and we like to make decisions ourselves, such as when we want to look at house, where, if we want to buy...when we're ready to move..." he looked about ready to rip his hair out at this point. "I accepted your help with finding a new home, I graciously shut my mouth when you scheduled walk thrus on our town house...and when you pretty much sold it for me., I do so appreciate you trying to take a load off me and my wife..." She looked confused at why he kept bringing Sara up.

"Okay Gil, I got it, you're married, you have a wife!" she was losing her temper here., didn't they appreciate all she'd done for him? Didn't he realize how long it could have taken for them to sell their place? How about how quickly everything got done with the other house., it was practically wrapped and delivered to them with little or no effort on their part, it's not like they had to go from subdivision to subdivision and house to house to find the perfect one. Then it hit her...though she'd never really admit it...perhaps in her attempt to be helpful...she'd forgotten Sara for just a minute, she'd been so used to taking the proverbial 'bull by the horns' when it came to Grissom and his habitual procrastinating, that she'd done what she always had and got the balls rolling, this time they rolled right back over her. "Okay...alright, I see where I might be jumping the gun..." she put a tentative hand on his arm.

"Jumping the gun Cath?" His mouth was open. "Come on, this is overkill even for you!" he sat down and rubbed his face with both hands. "We sold our home, bought a new one., you've got movers outside ready to roll up this show and get it on the road. In case you forget, my wife and I are pregnant!" he was upset by Catherine but each time that he said those words, his face lit up like a little boy about to discover that Santa Claus really did exist.

"I haven't forgotten Gil, that was why I did what I did..." she turned to him "let's face it, you're not the best one for getting the ball rolling...you have a history of putting things on the back burner and having been your right...and left hand for years., I was just doing what I normally do...okay, maybe I went a bit overboard this time but it was with the intention of making your life and your WIFE'S a little less hectic...remember, I was pregnant once, seems like at the beginning you have plenty of time to get things done...next thing you know, whammo, you're on your back, legs above your head, some idiot's telling you to breath, to push...and all you want to do is smash his damned head between your..." Gil's eyes were widening with each words. "Never mind...anyway...it wasn't my intention to stress you or Sara, just to help...I'm sorry if I crossed the line!" he watched her face and knew she was being sincere...

"However, since the movers are already here., we could conceivably get you out of here by the end..." Gil shook his head.

"You just couldn't stop...you just couldn't leave it alone!" he laughed and walked outside. "Mrs.Grissom..." he waved toward where Sara had taken Catherine's seat on the car hood and was chatting with the men. "Are you in any mood to move today?" Sara looked up stunned.

"I...I...well I guess we could but..." she hadn't had time to wrap up breakables, go though and say 'goodbye' to the first home she every really knew being loved as she was...and the emotions that were coursing through her right now along with being pregnant and the feelings were overwhelming her. "We have to pack, we have to get the utilities changed...we have...so..." she collapsed into Gil's side and felt his warm, comforting embrace steady her.

"We don't have to do any of this if you don't want to..." he kissed her forehead and wrapped both arms around her and pulled her tightly to him. "You are my wife, my life...my" he kissed her soundly "life...Sara Jayne Grissom...you are my everything" he kissed her again, so unlike the old Gil Grissom who would have shied away from any display of affection, it was as if he wanted the whole world to know he had finally found his one and only and given his heart and soul completely. "If this upsets you or the kids" he smiled again and it amazed her how easily he did that as well lately "then we can postpone this..." she shook her head.

"If they promise not to break anything" Catherine stepped forward.

"I took the afternoon off to supervise so you wouldn't have to..." she turned toward Grissom "With the exception of you Mister, I am nor is anyone else packing your arachnid zoo and your office, I know exactly when to cry 'Uncle' and when it comes to whatever you have hidden in that area...I'm hands off!" he laughed. Sara and he both knew that it was one area of the house that Gil would handle all by himself.

"Not a problem!" he let go of Sara for a moment and turned toward the moving men. "I guess we're moving!" he took her hand and led her into the door. Catherine supervised the moving of major furniture., Sara watched and helped 'no one is touching my underwear!' she was adamant about that, pack the assorted things that she wanted bubble wrapped and protected. As each box was filled, sealed and marked with its contents...she watched each room become emptier and emptier. The feeling of sadness returned and she absentmindedly rubbed a protective hand over her swelling abdomen.

Gil was just inside his office and watched her actions silently. He hoped that once they were moved in and had everything in its place, she'd be able to sit back and enjoy her pregnancy but he couldn't help but wonder about everything that had happened. Sara hadn't come back on her own per say...she'd come back because he was in danger, because of him and the hostage situation and it bothered Grissom to no end that perhaps she'd been forced to return from her journey of discovery before she was honestly ready although, she had tried to assure him that she came back because she wanted to. Gil knew the difference between wants and needs.

Sara turned slowly toward him and caught the pensive look on his face and moved slowly over toward him. She gently slid her hands up each side of his chest and around his neck. "Penny for your thoughts or...in this day and age...maybe a dollar or two?" she leaned up into him and planted a soft kiss on his jaw then moved toward his mouth. He stared down at her when their lips parted and the look in his eyes told her that he was deeply worried about something. "You okay with this Bugman?" she waited patiently for his response.

"I'm worried.." he didn't know if he wanted to have this conversation here but..."Not about me., us...or this" his hand came around to the small of her back.

"You're worried about me?" she saw him nod slowly. "You're worried about me because of the move?" he nodded only a little. "You're worried because I'm pregnant?" he shook his head. "You're worried because..." her eyes lit up with the realization. "You're worried that ... " she ran her hands up his shoulders again. "You're thinking that I came home sooner than I would have because of you getting hurt?" He closed his eyes for a mere moment, took a deep breath and sighed.

"I know you needed to go away to fix yourself, I just don't want to be the only reason you came home!" he knew that it sounded wrong even to his ears but her patience with him showed through once again.

"I did come home because you were hurt" she hugged him, "you're my one and only Gilbert Grissom and I would have gone to the ends of the earth it I had to...but" she kissed him again, a slight butterfly light brush of lips on lips.

"I came home because I wanted to...because what I was looking for" she kissed him again "is right here, in this room...my husband, my children...my life" she snuggled under his chin. "My everything!" she used the words that he'd used to describe her. "Now" she pulled back..."Get your ass in there, get the damned bugs wrapped and ready to go...we have a new home to christen!" she leaned up once more, captured his lip between her teeth, her tongue trailed along the same path then lightly skimmed just inside his lips. Gil pulled her forward to deepen the kiss but she pulled back. "Oh no Bugman, you're going to work to get more of that..." she winked then went back to packing their home.


	43. Chapter 43

A/N: Sorry for the delay, between Dad's health and welcoming a new addition (a rescued Doberman pinscher) into my home...I've been sitting on these two chapters. It's been hard to keep my mind from making Sara a victim or Gil considering where the last episode took us...but this is 'my' fanfic universe and in this world, she does not leave...

Enjoy and again, thank you all for the wonderful words of encouragement, the reviews and the support that makes writing this both fun and cathartic

It was well after dark when the last of the movers scrambling like a team of busy ants had gotten every piece of furniture moved from one home to the next. Boxes were stacked in each of the rooms that were marked on their outsides. Catherine had gone out to order dinner for everyone when the rest of the team showed up.

"Anyone home?" Warrick Brown knocked on the slightly ajar door.

"Back here!" Sara was working in the kitchen unpacking boxes of dishes, glassware and the other odds and ends that belonged in that room. As she stooped to pick up yet another carton, Warrick moved forward and stopped her.

"Here Sar, let me get that..." he picked it up and followed her through the rooms." This place if awesome..." he placed the carton on the countertop and turned to see what other cartons she might need.

"There are three more that go in here if you wouldn't mind?" she began ripping the packaging tape from the carton, curling it into a ball and discarding it in the trash can she'd put beside her for whatever she decided not to keep. "Then this room will be done!" she picked up a glass of iced tea that Gil had poured for her earlier, the ice now tiny little drops plinking against the dripping glass. "Finally!" she laughed, set the glass down after taking a refreshing sip. "Can I get you anything?" Warrick looked around and smiled.

"The food is on its way. Catherine asked us to come give you and Gris a hand with anything you might need." leave it to Catherine to think of yet another thing to make their lives easier. "Archie's on his way over to hook up all of Gil's electronics. Greg was stopping off to pick up a house warming present."

"You shouldn't have" she really meant it; they had a ton of things that still needed unpacking.

"It's liquor, some fruits and veggies, some firewood for your new fireplace..." Greg answered as he started to struggle through the door carrying bags of groceries and pushing a carton of something inside the entryway. "I think I cleaned them out...not sure what everyone likes, I got beer, pop, diet and regular...I got mix for Margaritas and beer...pretzels, chips, pop corn...did you know, popcorn on the fireplace is simply the best...but, unfortunately, I didn't have time to get you one of those wrought iron poppers so microwave...you do have a microwave right..." he was going on and on as Nick and Archie poked their heads in and took bags from Greg's arms...which way?"

"This way..." he heard Sara's voice..."Keep coming straight through..." she knew the house was a little daunting with all the rooms.

"Holy shit this place is huge!" Nick looked around "Love the granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances...did they move them in?" he was used to big homes having come from a pretty large family.

"Yes, we had just bought some for our place but when they decided to leave these...and they're brand new mind you...we decided to do the same, they're identical...which was strange..." she laughed as Nick started unpacking the grocery bags as Greg brought still more in.

"What'd you do, buy out the entire snack food aisle?" Grissom entered the kitchen and noticed most of his team standing around the huge center island.

"Just about, never know what anyone might be in the mood for..."Greg was sure that somewhere there had been a shopping tip from his Poppa Olaf covering 'how to get the food to please just about every person'. "I wanted to make sure that no one left hungry...what do you need me to do Grissom?" he had finished his unpacking and per instructions from Catherine was making himself useful.

"How is it my entire team seems to have the night off?" Grissom looked from the guys around him to his wife and laughed as everyone else shrugged.

"Catherine!" was the chorus of voices just as the woman in question entered the house followed by three guys carrying bags, chafing dishes and boxes.

"What did I do now?" she wondered if Gil had shared with them how she'd kind of overstepped on everything...

"Nothing, Gil was just wondering how we're all able to be here." Warrick reached for the bags she'd been carrying herself while she called Sara.

"Where do you want the food Sara?" she smiled as the other woman in the group came around the counter, pitcher of tea in one hand, lemonade in the other.

"We can eat here or in the dining room..." she knew Catherine would be able to direct everyone.

"The food will need a bit more time after they set it up so if you need anything...?" Gil had walked away with Archie discussing how they'd planned on hooking up the surround sound on the family room TV, the stereo system that had been on the wall of Gil's old place...he couldn't part with it, so often coming home from tedious cases, it had been his habit to turn it on and fill his space with noise when the silence got to much. That would be put in his office even though the house was equipped with a state of the art sound system. Archie would be in his glory and Gil would be able to concentrate on things more to his knowledge.

Greg was thrilled when Gil asked him with help setting up his office, the aquariums had to be safely unpacked, lighting was installed over the tanks, heat pads and lamps were plugged in and within an hour or so, everything was in place. His desk was set up, computer was installed and the last thing he did was put a picture of both himself and Sara hugging Bruno on the desk.

"That's a nice picture...she looked so relaxed" Greg mentioned without realizing he was speaking out loud. Gil turned and shot him a confused glance.

"You don't think she looks happy now?" he felt something in the pit of his stomach. "You can be honest with me Greg" he quietly closed the French doors that separated his space from Sara's.

"I think sometimes she looks like she's carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders lately." he took a seat in front of Gil's desk while he took the chair behind it. "I think something changed after she was kidnapped, I know after Nick was...kidnapped...he was different for awhile...I guess in some ways, he's changed since then...but in others he's still the same old Nick" he couldn't put a finger on exactly what the changes were. Nick seemed to tire of the killing, death and violence more easily and lost his temper much more quickly. Gil had seen and heard about a few incidents including when Greg had been the victim and Nick had gone after what turned out later to be one of the assailants but at first seemed like a loud mouth bystander with a gripe against the Police and anyone else in uniform.

"I'm worried about her..." Gil sat back in his chair..."Something just seems to be there but I don't know what to do to help her..." his eyes betrayed the "I honestly thought I lost her when she left..."

"You're afraid that she came back to soon aren't you?" Greg could be very intuitive at times. Gil nodded, ashamed that someone knew him so well. "Gil...Gris, Grissom" he cleared his throat. "Sara loves you...anyone with half a brain would have realized that years ag..." his eyes opened and he suddenly looked apologetic "...ago...gosh, I'm so sorry ...that was, that came out wrong."

"No Greg it didn't...it's the truth. Only" he wondered if he'd feel better getting some things out in the open. "I did realize it years ago., I mean...I knew back when she was my student that she had feelings for me...and I for her, something about Sara just gets inside you..." he had his head resting against his hand. "I can't explain it..."

"No need, I fell hook, line and sinker for her when she showed up at the lab." he smiled "she was the only one that seemed to take me seriously but keep me from going overboard sometimes..." he laughed now with an ease that took a long time in developing between him and Grissom. "I was broken hearted when I found out she decided to dump me...for you!" he winked and Gil laughed...

"Yeah, something about robbing the nursing home vs. robbing the cradle?" he teased in a lighthearted banter.

"I hope it didn't bother you...I mean, I made an ass of myself more than once where Sara Sidle was concerned" he sat back and stretched. "I knew she was yours from the time she showed up...but you can't blame a guy for trying when ... well look at what a catch she is.." he felt strange having such an honest conversation with his supervisor but since his attack, Gil had made it a point of getting closer to him and it felt right on both of their parts.

"Nah...She came to her senses and chose the right guy!" he jokingly added. "Or completely lost her mind...but I am so lucky to have her in my life. And now, pregnant with my children..." Greg scrunched up his face.

"Ugh...don't put those pictures in head anymore...it's like my parents having sex..." He was sitting there suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"They probably still do Greg" Gil figured he would just 'ice the cake' with that one.

"TMI...tmi Grissom!" he had his hands over his ears when Sara walked in...

"So this is where you two disappeared to...I just came to tell you dinner was ready" She was about to leave when Gil pulled her onto his lap. "Grissom!" she sounded utterly shocked at this display.

"Hey, it's been hours since I got to kiss my lovely wife and I was feeling 'depleted' from the lack of affection I was being shown" he nuzzled against her neck and moved up toward her ear when she ducked her head and tried to pull away.

"We have company...!" she tried to act offended but couldn't hide the rye smile spreading on her features. "Besides...we're going to ruin Greg for any other women...so behave your self Bugman!" she laughed then headed out the doors. "Dinner is ready when you two want to join the rest of us."

Greg sat there dumbfounded at the two people before him. When Sara left, Gil turned to him and shrugged. "She's like an intoxicating drug...you just can't get enough of her" he stood up and motioned to the door where Sara had just exited.

The gang sat around bantering about the house, the job and the upcoming plans for an actual wedding for the Grissom clan as Warrick had named them.

"I can't wear white walking down the aisle…" Sara sat back, hands on her expanding waistline. She was teasing of course because she hadn't planned on it in the first place.

"No…I was thinking of bright red!" Greg growled under his breath…"Tight, shiny and leather." Gil reached out and tossed a crouton at him from his salad and everyone at the table looked stunned…

"That's my wife you're ogling!" he tried to look serious until Sara got up and at on Greg's lap then he looked as stunned as the younger man who sat, mouth open as the brunette ran her fingers through his hair.

"Does my Greggo have a fantasy of seeing me in red leather?" she was cooing to him softly, Greg looked about ready to start drooling. Sara looked at Grissom and winked. "Does he fantasize about tying me up? Having mad passionate sex with me?" Greg was looking between her and Grissom then shaking his head but his eyes were glassed over as she wiggled slightly on his lap knowing full well that Greg wouldn't be able to stand up for quite awhile. "Does this involve having my husband watch?" she was working him over now and she and everyone else in the room could see beads of sweat forming on the younger man's forehead. Grissom remembered the comment he had made during a case where a man of slight build had died from suffocation after the well endowed woman he was sleeping with passed out on top of him. He'd stated then about having fantasies about Sara and bed but finished with the fact that Grissom would not have been present. Sara decided to keep making him sweat.

"I kind of gave up on that fantasy the day Grissom pinned you to the wall!" he saw the shocked expression on both of their faces….

"What?" Sara stood up and moved to stand behind Grissom. "What exactly are you talking about?" Greg was laughing at the turn of events.

"You were standing before a bloody sheet and Grissom had your hands pinned along side your head….you struggled and I was damned sure that he was going to lay one on you…." Grissom looked guilty and Sara just looked stunned. The rest of the team looked at each other but there wasn't much surprise registering on their faces. After the tidbit about how Sara had been the only woman he loved and confirmation that they'd been in a relationship for year, nothing could top that now.

"So,…anyone for dessert?" Catherine picked up a tray and passed it around. Sara leaned forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Gil's neck.

"Sorry Greg, the only fantasies I had have always involved a gorgeous hunk of man with the sexiest gray hair and the bluest eyes you could imagine" she ran her finger tips through his hair and massaged his head gently. Gil was lost in the moment and closed his eyes sighing softly.

"So, does Grissom know you fantasize about this man?" Jim Brass had to toss in his two cents.

"So Sara" Catherine moved around the counter cleaning up paper plates and silverware. "Do you prefer the beard or the clean shaven look?" Catherine thought she liked Grissom best with the beard.

"Well, considering it was she who shaved it off last time…." Grissom mumbled without opening his eyes….then suddenly they popped open as he realized what he'd just said.

"I knew it!" Warrick held out his hand and Nick handed over a crisp new 50.00. "Like stealing candy from a baby" he laughed hysterically.

"Do you two bet on everything?" Gil tried to look appalled that Warrick still gambled. "Have you learned nothing?" he stood up and walked toward where Warrick was folding his ill gotten gains. "You have a gambling problem, I must, as your supervisor assist you in every way to avoid temptation…therefore" he deftly lifted the 50 and handed it to Sara. "I think this would be better served going into a weekly kitty for parties." he handed the money to Sara who stuck it in a jar she'd pulled from the cabinet.

"Hey….you got any idea how hard it is to win any bets on you guys?" Warrick was laughing as he said it. "Parties here? Honestly? Man….Sara you've whipped this boy into shape!" he and Catherine cracked up laughing. "Gil Grissom is a whipped man…." he teased lightly

"If I am, I couldn't think of a better person to whip me than my girl" he pulled Sara close to him as he leaned against the counter.


	44. Chapter 44

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and the support, I'm back...it's been a hard few weeks with Dad in and out of the hospital, running him for more tests to see if he's a candidate for experimental surgery, my sister totalled her car but was luckly not hurt, the new boy "Gilbert Grissom" has been settling in after two bouts of illness so...I've gotten a little side tracked by life...but I'm back...and I've missed the writing, I've missed the story and Gil and Sara...and I've missed you all...

They're not mine but...I can play with them...

Finally, the house was theirs, company had left including Catherine who insisted that she help wrap and put away every last bit of leftovers for the happy couple.

"Sara, it was enough that you let us invade your space, it's the least I could do" she was definitely still trying to make amends for having taken over everything in the last few hours.

"Catherine, really I think you can leave the dishes, that way I can test out the dishwasher" what she really wanted to say was 'get out, I'd like a few hours with my husband'. Finally Gil wrapped his arms around the strawberry blond and pulled her back away from the counter.

"Catherine, I love you dearly, we both do but unless you want to witness me tying down my wife and taking full advantage of her...I'd suggest you grab your bag" he was already handing it to her. "Your coat" Sara had that in her hands. "Your care package" he pointed to the bag of goodies that she'd wrapped for her and Lindsey "And get thee butt out of our house" he kissed her head then using his arms and body for leverage, moved her forward to the front door.

"Okay...I can take a hint...geez Gil are you really going to tie her up?" she winked and Sara blushed.

"Only after I get done tying and whipping him myself" Sara teased as she snuggled against Gil and sighed as he wrapped his arm tightly around her. She finally felt like she was 'home'.

They locked up, shut off the lights downstairs, and made sure Bruno had food and water then want up hand in hand to their new bedroom suite. "I can't believe this is all ours" she tightened her hand in his. "But most of all, I can't believe that we're here...together and I'm finally happy...happier than I've been in months." she saw the look of surprise on his features. "What's wrong Gil?" he shook his head and she stopped mid stairs. "No...No, ugh uh...you are not doing that anymore...remember?" she pulled her hand free. "I'm no longer allowed to answer that I'm fine and you promised to talk to me Gil...so whatever is on your mind...out with it!" she turned and sat down on the carpeted stair refusing to go any further and, it was clear to Grissom that he wasn't going to bed with his wife anytime soon if he didn't live up to his end of the bargain.

"Sara..." he sighed, this wasn't easy and he was so afraid to say the wrong thing, hadn't he just got her back?" I...I'm just afraid that you came back too soon!" there he said it, it was out...and now he held his breath.

"You think because I came back when I heard what was happening..." he nodded "Well. Partly true I'll admit..." she pulled him down to sit beside her. "But, not the whole truth" she smiled then took both of his hands in hers. "I thought I needed to go away to keep you from seeing me fall apart." she looked deeply in his eyes. "I thought I needed to bury the ghosts of the past because my biggest fear wasn't that I would turn into my Mother, worst fear., that I would somehow hurt you, I mean...I know I hurt you the way I left and I can never apologize enough..." she had tears in her eyes. "But if there was any chance I would have become like her..." she leaned against him...and kissed him softly.

"Impossible..." he smiled..."There isn't a mean bone in your body..." he wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders and kissed her right back.

"When Natalie did that to me, then when that little genius brat cause her own brother to die..." she knew he understood. could have Gil, I could have easily killed either of them...and I wouldn't have felt a thing...maybe relief but certainly not regret...and that frightened me., if I could hurt them...could I somehow..." he kissed her again, a soul searing kiss that confirmed his love and the fact that she didn't frighten him.

"You could no more hurt me intentionally than I could hurt you…" he stood up and pulled her to stand beside him on the stairs. "I love you very much, that's the reason I couldn't go after you when you left. You said 'goodbye' in your letter, you didn't say you wanted me to follow you….I thought about it though, honest to God I did…." he stared at her for a moment. "I knew if I did, you might come back because I begged you to…and Sara believe me, I would have begged and pleaded to get you to come back to me" he reached out a gentle hand and skimmed his thumb lightly over her lips. "But I knew that you needed to come back because it's what you wanted to do, not because you felt any obligation to do so." He moved in for a light and delicate kiss. "I do know, when I read your letter, I thought that you finally tired of me and left to find someone younger…." She smacked him but smiled.

"I told you a long time ago Gilbert Grissom that you were the one I wanted" she squeezed against him. "I could never grow tired of you…I have loved you for…" she leaned up and kissed him again "forever or that's what the last 9 years have felt like at times…" she teased lightly "but, the bottom line is I want to grow old together, I want to wake up every morning beside you and go to sleep curled up after making mad, passionate and oh so kinky sex with you…" he picked her up which stunned her and carried her the rest of the way up the stairway. "You need to put me down!" she chuckled as her arms wrapped securely around his neck.

"Never" he gently laid her on their bed and then proceeded to slowly undress himself before turning his complete and unhurried attention to her. "You planning on joining me or you going to lie there all night?" he winked. She reminded him of a feline the way she slowly and sensuously stretched her arms over her head and lifted her legs one at a time as she shifted her position.

"Oh, let me see, if I lay here, you could be forced to do all the work" she saw him smile as she reached down and unbuttoned the turquoise button on her jeans. "And I can have all the pleasure of watching you enjoy yourself thoroughly I'm sure" she teased him in a husky voice.

"Or?" he knelt beside her as she shimmied out of not only the jeans but the red thong she'd had hidden underneath and then proceeded to slip off her tank top.

"Or……" she suddenly pounced like the tigress she was and pinned him down on the bed underneath her. "I could turn the tables and take you right here, right now….I could ride you hard and put you away wet!" she licked her lips salaciously and grinned down at his stunned look. His hand slid between their skins and found its way to her delicate folds.

"I think you could start riding me wet!" he growled between clenched teeth as she slid around on top of him trapping his erection between her legs. "God Sara you're so wet and….." his words were muffled as she leaned forward and covered his mouth with her own. He chuckled between kisses. "Eager" he managed to squeak out as she added a slight twist to her hips on the up slide. "Woman if you don't stop that soon…." he was to close and wanted them to enjoy this time together. Sara had other ideas as she raised herself up and went to the dresser.

"Are you up for a little….?" she pulled out two ties and smiled innocently at him "Oh….I see you're 'up' for something" she teased again as she slid back on top of him. He reached up to touch the ties and did something completely unexpected. Instead of letting her tie him to the headboard, or flipping her over and tying her there, he simply grabbed some of the material and looped it around both of their hands and wrists capturing her fingers and twining them with his.

"How about we play a different game?" he rasped between breaths as he tried to gain control of his body. "No hands at all?" he smiled wickedly as she looked down their bodies where they would have been joined.

"And I'm supposed to get 'THAT' in how?" she bit her lip and contemplated ways around her puzzle.

"We do this together!" he bucked upwards unexpectedly and she gasped loudly.

"Oh My God!" she felt him shift underneath her but refuse to release her hands. "Well….." she stared into his eyes as she rose up slightly and at the same time levered her lower anatomy in line with his. "This should be interesting." She laughed as it took several minutes of twisting and turning before she finally had him at the entrance. "Well baby…here goes nothing!" she slid down and let him enter her in one fell swoop. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh. " She gasped again as the sudden fullness took her breath away. Gil wasn't fairing much better as he had been so close before, he had to try to stop himself from thrusting as she descended on him yet again and cried out in ecstasy. "Wow….oh wow!" was all the coherent words she managed. When she was sure she'd adjusted to the shear size of him, she began rocking back and forth moving up and down with that slight twist again and Gil's head dropped back, his eyes closed and his mind took it all in, the exquisite fit of him inside of her. Molten hot, slick walls hugged him tightly; the tickle of her fur against the hair of his pubic area was something he would never tire of.

"Sara…..you're …. Going … to…. kill……me!" He swallowed hard.

"What a way to go" she leaned forward pressing wet, hot kisses on his forehead where she licked away beads of sweat and relished in the taste of him. "At least if I die right now" she saw his blue eyes lock onto her own. "I'll die a very happy woman" she kissed him again then leaned down and nibbled on his jaw line.

"Could you just imagine Catherine and Brass having to find us like this?" he started giggling which totally took her by surprise as it was completely out of character for him.

"David would be mortified as would Greg!" she couldn't help herself as she joined in the laughter.

"Al would have that damned camera to add us to his photo collection" he was laughing harder and Sara just lay gently across his chest.

"I just pictured Ecklie having to process the DNA results" they both laughed at the though of him coming in and seeing them dead but joined together having died in ecstasy. "Think they'd let us use just one body bag?" she cracked up so hard she nearly fell off him and he lifted a leg and balanced her out.

"Did I tell you today that I love you Sara?" he suddenly turned very serious "Because I don't' want a day to ever go by that I forget to tell you that ever again!" he reached up and claimed her lips in a hot and searing kiss. Sara deepened it as she used her tongue to explore the inside of his warm, wet mouth. He grasped her hips as she rocked back and forth building each of them to their own climax. When she felt him first swell then stop for a moment, she looked down and realized he was so very close and with that she tightened her internal muscles and doubled her effort shoving them both off the cliff and into the abyss of passion.

Later, she lay curled in the crook of his arm, head on his shoulder and her fingers playing gently across the wide expanse of his chest. "I think my brain exploded back there!" she chuckled. "I haven't seen so many stars since the night we did it outside the townhouse!" she leaned up and kissed and licked his neck. "Ready for round two?" he head turned in sudden surprise and the look on his face was priceless.

"Jesus Sara are you trying to kill me?" he smiled warmly "I'm an old man….it does take awhile to recover!!" he felt her pinch one of his nipples at the 'old man' comment and he winced. "Okay….I'm a mature…" she pinched him yet again only switching sides. "Ouch! Dam woman!" he laughed knowing she was poised and ready to strike again. "Okay, okay I get it, I'm not old…." she smiled at him and nodded for him to continue. "I'm not mature?" he looked questioningly at her and winked "What the hell does that make me?" she leaned over and captured one of his reddened nipples in her mouth while her hand slid under the blankets looking for ….. signs. The warm grasp of her hand had him hardening again and she smiled into his mouth.

"Horny Dr. Grissom, it makes you damned hard and horny!" she lunged under the covers and he put his hands under his head as he felt her moving around. He was just about to relax when her warm, wet lips found their mark and she sucked his entire length into her mouth and throat.

"Sara where the hell did you learn to do that?" he gasped between rasping breaths. She increased the suction and bobbed her head up and down. "Sara…..stop!" he didn't want her to finish, for some reason he often felt like she might have the inkling that she was obligated to reciprocate when oral sex was involved even when she'd tried, time after time to tell him differently. This time she squeezed his thighs and doubled her efforts. "Sara!" he tried to pull her away but she shook her head causing him even more friction.

"Weeve me awone!" she tried to sound stern with him but her mouth was full and she sounded like Elmer Fudd. Gil tried to pull gently on her tresses but she slapped his hands away. "Swop it!" She added licks and kisses but always returned to filling her warm mouth with his silken flesh. "Wanna do dis" she mouthed around his member and he chuckled but he was still amazed that she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself.

Sara you don't have to…..do…..thaaaaaaaaaaaaaattt" he was close and she was adding twists with her hands, tongue and lips and he was trying hard to fight a losing battle. He fisted the sheets betweens groans and moans. "AaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggGoddddddddddddddd!" he swallowed hard as his eyes rolled back and he writhed under her ministrations. He felt the first shudder of his orgasm and then felt his release.

Sara swallowed several times as ribbons of molten semen flowed down her throat. She loved the taste of him and having had him tell her why he hesitated whenever she wanted to do this, she'd often times had to pretty much take matters into her own hands and force the issue. She couldn't make him understand that while she didn't always enjoy it…with other partners, due to the how and why of the way they had treated her in the past. With him it was completely different. She viewed it as pleasure for pleasure sake and not a chore or an act of reciprocation. She loved the taste, texture and feel of him and could easily watch him lose control over and over. It wasn't often in day to day life that he did but when Gil was in the throws of an orgasm, he was a sight to behold and she felt blessed to be the one that was responsible for making him happy.

"Okay, that's it, I'm officially dead now." he reached a hand down to where her mouth had been and felt the flaccid skin. "It's dead, you've killed it!" he smiled warmly and closed his eyes with a huge contented sigh. Sara snuggled into his armpit and blew a raspberry there making him laugh. "Okay, stop it….you've done me in woman, I can't do it no more. Not tonight…" he pulled her up to him and kissed her deeply amazed that he could taste himself on her lips. She leaned on his chest and licked her lips.

"I enjoyed myself….but now I have the munchies" she winked knowing that Gil would gladly get up and make her anything she requested.

"And you'd like?" his eyebrow arched slightly.

"One of your fabulous omelets would be good or chocolate chip pancakes or waffles….or maybe I'll just have to have a second or third course?" she tried to duck under the covers again but this time he wiggled free and quickly stood up.

"Oh no missy, you've had your fill of that….too much protein in your diet tonight…you need carbs now" he teased as he picked up a pair of pajama pants and slid his legs into them. "I'll go make some omelets, you make some coffee" he was surprised to find that he was just as hungry as she was. "You know, we have all those leftovers as well?" he opened the door to their bedroom and started to leave the room.

"Nope, I need eggs to go with my _'sausage' _Gilbert!" she winked salaciously at him. When he was gone, she slipped into the bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She finally liked what she saw the look of a well kissed mouth, hair that was messed because he couldn't seem to keep his hands out of her long tresses. Her body was filling in with the wonderful meals she'd been privileged to and the sparkle was back in her eyes. "Yup Sara Grissom…you are one hell of a lucky woman!" she slipped on a lavender silk robe and joined her husband in the kitchen.


	45. Chapter 45

They'd been sleeping a few hours when Gil felt something pressing against his back in little intermittent staccato beats. Sara was lightly snoring, something she swore she didn't do but having had to endure a time without her, it was a welcome addition to the noises in the new home. Then he felt it again and slowly slid his hand behind his back to locate where it was coming from. His eyes shot open in amazement when his hand landed against her stomach and he was rewarded with yet another thump against his warm palm. He slowly turned over trying to keep his hand pressed gently against her abdomen. When he was fully on his left side, he was rewarded with brown caramel pools staring back at him.

"Why are you feeling me up?" she grinned gently then covered his hand with her smaller one.

"My kids were kicking the shit out of their old man!" he loved to say it now 'my kids, our kids, my family, my wife, my Sara' and for a moment she noticed a hint of sadness pass over his face.

"What's wrong Gil?" she stroked his arm, fingers loving the sensation of the hair on his forearms as her hand ascended up to his chest.

"I keep thinking that I could have had all of this so much sooner if I hadn't been so damned stupid!" she leaned in and kissed him, morning breath be damned.

"Not stupid..nope, my husband is certainly not a stupid man..." he smiled "stubborn...yes, set in his ways...used to be...kinky...most definitely...romantic...oh hell yes" she moved over till she was laying on his chest "but definitely not stupid" she kissed him again and played with the gray curls of the hair she loved so much. "Cautious and driven...absolutely...dependable...you bet your ass..." he was grinning as her descriptions continued. "Stupid ... nope...pig headed...there are moments..." he ran a hand up her thigh "Sexy...none sexier in my eyes" she kissed the tip of his nose. "Adventurous...oh yeah..." she signed as his hands did small circles just under the cheek of her ass.

"Okay, I'm convinced, I'm not a stupid man...but I am sorry Sara because all of this could have been ours years ago...and it was because I was afraid of losing my job...of losing what I thought defined me and then to find out it didn't, what an eye opener!" he laughed. "But when I almost lost you...and then Nicky...and then..." she kissed him to silence the memories.

"Shhhhhh Gil...no regrets...we need to move forward and let the past..." she whispered against his lips "be the past...and the future...we'll handle whatever comes up together..." and she delved in for yet another passionate kiss.

"Did I tell you how much I love you Mrs. Grissom?" he wrapped strong sturdy arms around her and drew her flush against his body.

"Yes you did...and from the 'evidence' I would say you're more than willing..." she chuckled as she lifted the blankets, scooted up and looked under her stomach 'and apparently very eager to show me?" her eyes twinkled in the way he remembered when they'd first met.

"Oh...oh yeah I can show you...for sure" he rolled them both over and proceeded to do as he promised. "And then" he kissed her..."I'm going to get up and make us lunch...then we're going to take Mr. Bruno for a walk and let him get to know the lay of the land..." he kissed her again, this time taking his time to cover each area of her wonderful mouth.

"Lay of the land?" she cracked up laughing at how serious he seemed.

"Yes my Dear, he is in a new area, I know you like to take him for walks, I like to as well..." he had a guilty look about him once again..."Well, I used to...but" she kissed him and shook her head again.

"No regrets..." she nodded as he repeated the vow with her.

"No...no regrets..." he snuggled against her and hoped that he could live up to her expectations but he knew at times when he was alone, he couldn't help but feel guilty for holding her at arms length, for not being able to see that she'd come back from the desert ordeal missing her true self. He'd missed it even when the evidence was right in front of him and he had constantly berated himself the entire time she'd been gone that he should have been more aware and should have insisted that she seek help in dealing with her problems. Sara felt him slipping from her again and crawled up to sit beside him.

"You my darling husband couldn't have known that I was having problems" she saw his eyes widen with surprise as if she'd been reading his mind. "You more than anyone know I am quite capable of hiding what I don't want someone to see" she ran a finger over his chest.

"But we have a connection Sara, I should have felt you pulling away...until you kissed me in the lab, in front of David...I thought it would simply go away, that you just needed time...you wouldn't talk to me...when I asked if you were okay you would always tell me...

"I'm fine...it's fine!" they repeated together.

"I was wrong, I wasn't fine and I should have been strong enough to look to my friends for support...but you know as well as I that we're private people..." she traced a circle around one nipple and heard him hiss an intake of breath. "I just shouldn't have been so private with the one person I love more than anything!" she looked up, tears in her eyes. "I hurt you...I think in some ways, I meant to..." He scooted up the bed until his back was against the headboard and waited for her to explain. "When you left for Williams, it hurt me, I thought you were running away from me...from us and it hurt." she felt like shit for bringing this up but it felt good to get it out in the open and she saw from the look on Gil's face that he understood.

"I wasn't running from you Sara...or us" he took her hands in his. "I was so sure that I was falling apart, you understand that now..." she nodded "and I needed to get away from the lab, Ecklie...the mayor., the paperwork and I wanted to take you with me, God's honest truth Sara, I wanted to take you with, I did but I knew that the minute you left, the gossip would start and truth be told, I'd always feared that if anyone knew about us, they'd assume...incorrectly of course that you were sleeping your way to the top or trying to...I knew the truth and so did you...which is why...as stupid as it seems, and I admit he did not deserve it...I gave the Key CSI position to Nick!" there, it was out in the open and refreshing..."I gave you a half assed excuse as to why I gave it to him but the truth was, I was only trying to protect your reputation...and mine" he whispered the last words.

"I admire that...and I'm glad we're talking all of this out now.." she sat against him. "When I asked you to dinner after the lab explosion...you turned me down?" he remembered it very clearly as if it was only yesterday.

"I had finally admitted that my hearing was worse, Al confirmed it as did an audiologist" he looked shyly at her. "I had just convinced myself to do something about it., pulled out the surgeon's card and was going to make the appointment when you showed up in the doorway...and I was afraid to admit that my career could possibly be over if the surgery wasn't successful but..." he held his breath a moment then sighed "But most of all, I already had this hangup about our age difference and then to know I was losing my hearing made me feel that much older and I couldn't do that to you..."

"Did you think I could love you less because you might have been deaf?" she waited hoping he would continue with their honesty.

"It crossed my mind...I didn't want anyone..."

"Me..." she added.

"I didn't want...you...to feel any obligations to stay with me because I was defective" he closed his eyes against the memories.

"Hearing is simply a sense...if you didn't have it, we would have adjusted but I couldn't love you less because of it..." she softly touched his chin turning his head to face her. "I couldn't love you less if you were fat, bald...deaf...crippled...you would be you...those things...your beautiful blue eyes" he blushed "this amazing body of yours" her hands spanned his broad chest again then settled on his middle "your hair...it's all part of what you are but it doesn't define who you are" she kissed him.

"You'd love me if I was fat and bald?" he was teasing and she felt happy that they could do what once was so awkward between them...they could talk, face their fears together and deal with anything.

"I'd love you no matter what...just never leave me again!" she lay her head against his chest and listened to his beating heart.

"I'll expect no less from you Sara...you don't have to run away...at least not alone!" she smiled, nodded and snuggled closer.

"You're my world...my everything and I don't want that to ever change...I don't want my world to ever end!" he wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her unique scent...and sighed in deep contentment.


	46. Chapter 46

The week flew by, the house was almost together and it felt as if they'd lived there forever. Flowers were always a norm now, Gil made sure that fresh ones were always in the middle of the dining room table, plants were scattered throughout the entire house., if there was a bright window, plants could be found somewhere nearby. Dog toys were often times strewn across the carpet of the family room and it wasn't uncommon to find a bone buried in their bed.

Gil was up making coffee and Sara had just finished her shower. She glowed, not only from the near scalding water she insisted on using but because she was feeling relaxed and content for the first time in her life.

"I wish to God you didn't have to go in tonight" she wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled tightly to his back.

"I know...I miss working with..." he stopped...knowing that she hadn't made any final decision about whether she'd be returning to the lab or not and he wasn't going to push it.

"Me?" she kissed the back of his neck. "I miss working with you too...I was thinking that while I was taking a shower, how we used to get ready together and then how we'd have to drive in separately..." she giggled "Boy, for working with the top CSI's in the country., they certainly missed what was right under their noses..." she took the cup of coffee he offered and leaned against the counter.

"Well you know you could always come visit" his eyebrows suggested more intimate things as his eyes fell to the opening of her silk robe.

"Oh really?" she pulled the material around her "Stop looking at me like I'm the prey and you're the hunter!" she was laughing because whenever she caught him, he was guaranteed to blush. "And would the visit include an in depth exploration of your office?" she often dreamed of taking him there...on her hands and knees, under his desk while he tried to answer Conrad Ecklie's ramblings in regards to budget meetings, staff meetings, progress reports. Gil saw a glimmer of something in her eyes.

"Well Mrs. Grissom...I could show you an first hand all the wonderful things hidden in my office and in other parts of the lab...have you ever done it in the morgue?" he was teasing but the raise of her eyes and the lick of her lips made his groin ache with need.

"Well I haven't but each time I saw you in there, looking over the bodies, I wished you'd look at me like that and I couldn't help..." she licked her lips again "wonder what it would be like to have you only in that lab coat..take me on one of the tables...mind you it would have to be scrubbed clean and disinfected" she thought he was going to fall over with this admission. "Fantasies Grissom...remember, everyone has fantasies" she smiled suggestively and put her coffee on the counter.

Gil finished dressing, packing his case and making sure that everything was organized before he headed into the lab. He kissed her one last time and then headed to the garage to load up the Denali.

"I'll call you tonight Gilbert...stay safe..." she kissed him once more "I love you...we all do" she rubbed her belly and felt the babies move. "Homer and Marge said they love you Daddy!" the smile she was rewarded with lit up the room.

"Tell Homer and Marge that Daddy loves Mommy very much but if he doesn't get his butt in the truck, he won't get to work and Uncle Conrad will be after Daddy's ass." he chuckled then pulled out making sure that the door closed behind him before he set the remote alarm system.

Sara was home for hours when the thought of being bored became more than she wanted to deal with. She had taken Bruno for a walk and he'd had a great time meeting the neighbors dogs and she'd found out that one of their new neighbors was also pregnant and due about a month before her. She seemed nice enough and told Sara she worked in the DA's office, had thought about getting into Criminal Investigations instead thinking that the thought of being at actual Crime scenes would be pretty awesome but her husband, also working for the DA would not allow her to do that saying they dealt enough with the criminal element without having to witness their handiwork first hand.

"He wanted to protect me but sometimes I don't think I'm cut out to spend my life behind a desk" she sat on the park bench watching their two labs Gunther and Greta playing with Bruno. "I want more excitement...how about you?" she turned green eyes on Sara.

"I am on leave from my job right now...ran into a rather stressful stretch" Sara figured she didn't need to supply anymore details then necessary. "My husband and I worked together as well...he's the Supervisor of Graveyard at the Crime Lab.." she smiled, proud of Gil.

"Gil Grissom?...He's your husband? Oh my goodness, he's hot!" she blushed as soon as the words left her mouth. "Oh shit! Did I just say that? I'm sorry Sara...but it's so true...um...our office had some dealings with your lab and one of our ex lawyers death was investigated by a few of your co-workers." Sara wondered who that could be.

"She was partners with that guy that kidnapped that CSI...Mick, Michael..., shit I can't recall his name.."

"Nick, Nick Stokes" she supplied. "Yeah...that was a nightmare." the woman, her name Sasha McCleod smiled and then something crossed her face.

"Wait...Sara...you weren't always Sara Grissom?" Sara swallowed hard and shook her head. "Sidle, Sara Sidle?" she knew immediately that Sasha knew now who she was talking to. "Oh wow, I'm so glad that everything worked out..." she brushed a hand against Sara's arm. "It had to be horrible for you but oh well..." she smiled "That's the past...and I'm sure you've had more than your share of info seekers...so let's just leave it in the past if you're okay?" Sara smiled.

"Thank you...you're the first person not asking a million questions" she sat back more relaxed now.

"Will you go back?" she knew that Sara had said she was on leave.

"I don't know, I miss the work, I miss working with the guys but I'm sure when the babies come..." she rubbed her stomach. "I'll have my hands full with that...but part of me wants to go back to working along side Gil and doing what I'm used to...but part of me is tired, seems the criminals just get smarter, the justice system finds more loopholes" she looked up "Sorry, I know you work for the DA but sometimes..."

"The system sucks...yeah I know...I see so many people getting off that shouldn't". She stopped to pet one of the dogs who had wandered over. "I have my views about things but at work, have to shut my mouth when I don't agree with someone and although I thought about a career as a criminal lawyer...I couldn't live with myself if I had to defend someone I knew was guilty..." Sara nodded knowing just how she felt.

"Well, I guess I should get back, I was thinking of taking a ride to work tonight and visiting with my old team" she stood up and whistled for Bruno who came to her reluctantly. He wasn't ready to give up his time with the two new friends that were able to keep up with him. "I hope we see each other again!" she shook hands with Sasha and clipped Bruno's leash to his collar. "It was nice talking to someone outside the office." they said their goodbyes and exchanged phone numbers then went their way.

Greg looked up and saw her coming through the lab. "Sara...Hey Sid...Griss...Sara!" he figured he was safer with that since he didn't want to alert Gil that she was there, just in case she didn't want him to know.

"Greggo...how are you?" she hugged him and looked over to see Archie and Bobbie waving at her as well. "Hey guys...how goes it?"

"It's slow...I had a choice of lab work or dumpster diving" Sara scrunched her nose at that but the memory of seeing Gil right after her last dive was something that held special memories for her. He'd just returned for sabbatical and unexpectedly turned up at the office. She's just came back carrying the lingering odor and remnants on her jumpsuit when he came out of his office...a sight for sore eyes to say the least and following her as she stepped backwards from him trying to keep a respectable distance, he'd pursued her down the hallway asking questions about how she was, what she'd done with the cocoon he'd sent her...and last but not least, easily shouting out to her retreating figure "I'll see you later!" with a determination that made it clear of his intentions.

"Oh, I'd definitely take the dumpster diving any day!" she teased him as she leaned against the counter.

"Your husband is holed up with paperwork again., Conrad caught him at the start of shift" He turned back to the computer "Catherine and Warrick are out at a trash run and Wendy went with them...she's shown an interest in applying for a CSI position" he wondered if it was to fill Sara's place. "There's openings ya know?" he smiled as he handed her a cup of coffee "It's fresh and my secret stash!" she held it up under her nose and inhaled deeply.

"Ah...Blue Hawaiian" she kissed his cheek and walked away. She walked slowly toward Gil's office and saw him hunched over stacks of files and folders. His glasses had slid partially down his nose and he looked like he could use a cup of coffee himself. She could just make out the beginnings of a migraine from the way he held the bride of his nose from time to time. She decided to go in the break room and make him a cup of coffee then reaching in her bag, pulled out the bottle of his meds that she carried with her now.

"Sidle!" Conrad entered the room and moved toward the coffee pot himself.

"Grissom" she corrected and saw him blink so she held up her hand showing her wedding and engagement rings. "We made it official when he was in the hospital" she stirred his coffee till it was just right.

"Grissom...oh, right congratulations" he smiled what appeared to be a genuine grin. "Anyway, giving any thoughts to coming back to us?" he hadn't paid much attention or he might have noticed the added weight around her middle.

"I've thought about it...but with the way I left...listen Conrad" it was the first time she called him by his first name "I'm sorry about the way I left, I know I should have given you some warning but..." she looked into the coffee cup like it might hold the answers for her.

"I understand it Sara, honestly I do, who hasn't had the job get to them from time to time?" he winked at her trying to make her understand that he saw there was more to it than simply having it 'get to you'. Sara was stunned with how he was acting.

"I don't think I'm cut out for the swing shift Conrad and I hate days...not that I'm criticizing but my life was wrapped up on Grave and when I switched to Swing, I felt...out of place...like I was the new kid and to tell you the truth, it wasn't a comfortable fit for me..." she watched his face.

"Well..." he sipped his coffee. "Would you consider coming back to Grave?" he knew that he'd have to wrangle in a few favors but right now staff was down, shifts were covering for shortages and doubles and triples were taking their toll on not only personnel but the overall solve rate which had been at an all time high with Sara and Grissom on the case were waning in the negative direction as well.

"I'd have to talk it over with Gil but Conrad, there's something else" she saw she had his full attention. "I don't know how long I'd be able to work in the field" she moved her hand to her abdomen "We're expecting." Conrad's mouth opened and closed.

"Well, congrats again..." he smiled unsure if she'd slap him had he attempted to hug her. "Do you know what you're having? Boy or Girl?" he smiled warmly.

"Yes.." he looked confused "Yes to boy and yes to girl!" she beamed and it had been a long time since Conrad could honestly say she looked positively radiant.

"Twins? Well you two work fast and I have to say, Gil always was an overachiever" he chuckled and Sara joined him in laughing. "Well, if you wanted to you could work in the field till you weren't comfortable anymore..you could move to the lab and work with Mandy...mind you it wouldn't mean you'd lose your CSI 3 status, just that you'd be out of harms way till the babies came...and then if you wanted when they're old enough you could always go back into the field...but that would be up to you and Gil of course..." he wanted to keep the ranking of second best crime lab as long as possible and was willing to bend any rules to get that done.

"Let me talk to Gil and see what he thinks, give me till the end of the week and I'll let you know one way or another?" Conrad nodded.

"Excellent and Sara, I'm glad you're okay...I really mean that" he tipped his cup, finished and added it to the sink where housekeeping would clean it up later.

"Thank you" she picked up the cup of coffee and proceeded to Gil's office where she casually leaned against the door frame and waited to see his reaction.

"Hey!" he looked up and his eyes glowed brilliant blue making Sara feel like the luckiest person on the face of the earth. "How's my favorite Bugman?" she carried the coffee in and set it down before him.

"Oh wow, I was just sitting here thinking about a cup of coffee" he sipped the brew and looked very contented. "How is your day going so far?" Sara sat down and dropped her purse on the floor.

"Well, I met a new friend in the park, Bruno has two labs to play with...and ConradEcklieofferedmemyjobbackand toldmeIcouldcomebacktograve" she said it all so fast that Grissom had a hard time making sense of what she said.

"Care to slow down two speeds?" he teased. Sara looked up like a deer in the headlights.

"Conrad, I ran into him just before I came in here" she saw him put his coffee down and pick up his pencil, a sure sign that she had his full attention now. "So anyway, he mentioned that if I'd like my job back, I was not only welcome to return but could come back to grave as well." she smiled wondering how he truly felt about this. "I told him of course that I would have to discuss this with you being that we're definitely in this together and requires us to make some changes." she sat back and waited trying hard to read his response.

"And did you tell him we're pregnant?" his eyes roamed to her stomach again.

"Yes, well I mentioned I was pregnant and you were expecting..." she laughed. It felt good to sit across from him and be able to relax.

"Apples and apples sweetheart" he put his pencil down and leaned forward. "What do you want to do?" he knew that there would come a day that she'd have to decide and apparently, the opportunity presented itself before they'd planned.

"Well...I wouldn't be able to work the field long...at least until the doctor says I couldn't anymore..." she sat back and sighed "but Conrad assured me that I could move into the lab and keep working as long as I was able then after maternity leave, I could come back and work either or" she rubbed her stomach as the babies waged a kicking war. "I wouldn't risk our children Gil." she looked at him. "And if you don't want me to come back...I would understand that but I have to know exactly how you honestly feel about that."

"I won't say I wouldn't worry, about you and the babies" he sat back "and I'd be a liar if I wasn't worried about you coming back so soon after..." he looked up and she saw him weighing each word. "After everything you've been through, I know Sara that the job was getting to you...I know how it feels to burn out but you already know that..."he stood up and moved around the desk and sat before her. "But if you want to try, I'm willing to support you in everything 100" he knelt down and took her hands. "You know, you'll have to report to Catherine as far as evaluations and any disciplinary issues, not that I'm thinking there will be any..." his lips quirked into a smile "and you'll have to work once in awhile with that grumpy old man that supervises" he kissed her gently on the lips and pulled her up as he stood. "He can be a bear from what I hear." she moved against him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Excuse me...since when do we get to fraternize with?" Nick was standing in the doorway with Warrick. "It must be nice to get to suck face on the job right Warrick?" Ric wasn't saying a thing, he was just thrilled to see Sara back in the lab. "So what do we have tonight boss being that we're short handed yet again...can I take Wendy out in the field with me?" David Hodges was passing by and at the mention of his crush, he slowed down to see what Gil's response would be.

"Only if you bring her back in one piece." he teased lightly still holding his arm around Sara's waist. "No off road driving with the Denali's you've already put two out of commission with your shortcuts" he was laughing and Nick blushed. "Hey, GPS told me there was a road there and it's not my fault that it wasn't where it was supposed to be!" he raised his hands in the air and turned to Ric "He's so much nicer when he's getting laid" Ric shook his head and backed out of the room.

"That is sooo wrong man...so wrong!" David hurried past them jealous that someone as good looking as Stokes got to take Wendy with him for the day.

"So Grissom" Warrick knew they were both going to answer to that and laughed "We have to figure out what to call you both... since we can't keep having to clear up 'no I meant him...no I meant her... maybe we can start calling you Bugman?" Gil shot him a look that said 'absolutely not'

"You can call me Sara and Gi...Grissom you can call Grissom" she still kept calling him Gil at home and Grissom in the office even though she knew he was more than fine with her calling him by his name. It just felt right after so long to keep his Christian name in the sanctity of their home. "And you better start getting used to it because after today, I'm back!" she turned and kissed Gil right in front of Warrick. He in turn took her in his arms and hugged her "Welcome back...God we missed you here...what shift?"

"Grave...with you guys, I'll have to do my firearms qualification again but that's not going to be a problem" she looked at Gil who was smiling.

"You okay with this boss Sara coming back?" like she wasn't even in the room. Gil hugged her tightly and smiled knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"It's something Sara and I have talked about, if she feels she's ready to try again, then I'm behind her one hundred percent, if she finds out she doesn't want to come back., so be it...Warrick, I love my job but I love my wife more than anything in this world" his hand went to her abdomen "And I'm sure I'll be just as protective of Homer and Marge here too" they exchanged cross eyed looks and laughed. "One thing I've learned this job is not the be all and end all of my life anymore...Sara taught me that and it's something I want each and every one of my team to remember, if you need to walk away...you walk away but remember this" he hesitated "Do not walk away believing anyone will think less of you or that you're alone, we've been there, Me, Sara and I'm sure Nick will tell you, we've all had our moments of walking away...or wanting to...but family, we're family and we support each other...is that clear?" Warrick nodded and smiled.

"Well Sara, it's good to have you back!" he waved as he walked back toward Trace.


	47. Chapter 47

A/N: yeah, so things were going a little to smoothly for our lovebirds and it's time for a bit of drama/angst, worry and suspense...I haven't figured out how I will finish this 'set up' but I can tell you, hang on, it's going to be a roller coaster ride and a test of endurance on several characters parts...evil smiles here...I need something with no new episodes after tonight (till Jan 10, 2008...next year...yeah next year) so enjoy and I'll duck while you all throw things at me...

I don't own them...maybe I do, that would explain where all my money goes...Billy...come back here we need to give you a 'raise'...hehehehehehe

Gil came home from yet another double, thankful that soon with Sara's return, they would be back up in man power but still he couldn't help feeling hesitant that she might be pushing herself too soon. His concern now went from the job to his wife and children and it was a feeling that was a little overwhelming at times. Sara was already in bed trying to catch a few hours sleep before her return when she heard him enter the house. If he followed his usual pattern, his first order of business would be to quietly call Bruno to go do his business, check any mail, pay a few bills and check emails. He would then make sure that the coffee pot was set up to go on about 10 minutes before they rose, check Bruno's water and food dishes, let him back in and then he would come in, strip and head for a quick shower. Today, he was lucky he could drag himself upstairs and when he sat on the bed, Sara heard him sigh as he toed off the first shoe.

"Hey..." she flipped over and switched on the bedside lamp."You okay?" she slid out from under the covers, came over and knelt down before him to help remove his second shoe and then moved onto his socks.

"Sara..." he smiled but his heart wasn't behind it today."You don't have to do that..." he put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from waiting on him.

"I want to do this" she flipped his socks in the hamper and then lined his shoes up in their normal spot by the closet. "Is it wrong to want to take care of my husband?" she kissed him lightly on the cheek noticing that he felt a little warm and saw his eyes close. "Let me help you with your pants" she reached for the buckle of his belt and his hands wrapped around her wrists.

"I'm just tired today for some reason" in truth, he hadn't felt good for a day or so and wondered if he wasn't coming down with a virus or something. Sara ran her hand up the side of his face.

"You're really warm" she turned and walked into the bathroom to get the electric thermometer they'd gotten from Catherine as part of a housewarming basket of necessities that she'd packed them. When she tried to stick the probe in his ear he pulled away.

"Sorry but I don't like anything in my ear!" he looked up at her innocently.

"You don't seem to mind my tongue" she teased then tried again only to have him tip his head down and away from the instrument. "Gilbert Grissom, either you let me take your temperature with this or we go rectal!" she smiled and his eyes looked stunned.

"Oh I don't think so...ain't nothing going in there!" he tipped his head but couldn't hide the discomfort of having the probe in his hear. "Ouch...is it supposed to hurt so much?" Sara looked at him, checked the reading 103.4 and clucked.

"First off you're running a nice fever; secondly, if it hurts that much" she stuck the probe in her own ear and found no discomfort there "you might have an ear infection. She put the probe down and proceeded to help him undress. "You are definitely not going in tonight!" she slipped his slacks off and then took his shirt from him leaving him in an undershirt and boxers. "Go take a warm soak and I'll be in there with some aspirins and soup" she knew he probably hadn't even bothered to stop to eat. He did as instructed and shuffled off to the bathroom. Sara went downstairs and found the number for their doctor only to be told that he was out of town.

"That's a pretty high fever for an adult" the nurse on the line had told her.

"He's had surgery on his ear before for Otosclerosis, and I'm just concerned in the event of an infection there...when I tried to take his temperature with the ear probe, he acted like I stabbed him" she explained.

"Well, I can give you the number for the doctor on call, he does make house calls you know and with Mr. Grissom's hesitancy about keeping his appointments..." she wondered if she'd said too much to Sara.

"I'd appreciate if you would put a call into him before I give him any aspirins. Soup is okay right?" Sara put the medication back in the cabinet and pulled out a container of soup that Catherine had cooked for them.

"Yes, as long as he has an appetite, make sure he eats, if it's what the doctor's Mother has...it won't last for long. his appetite that is, she's been tossing her cookies and running to the bathroom non stop for three days., that's why he left...to go take care of her...like your husband, she needs someone to keep an eye on her...I'll have Dr. Brebach call you and set up an time to come out..." she took Sara's new phone number and address and then wished her luck and hung up. Sara was torn, she knew that the shift had been shorthanded since her departure and also knew that with Gil down they'd feel the strain even more but how could she leave him knowing that he was incubating a potential problem. She decided to call Catherine.

"Willows!" she got her on the first ring.

"Cath, it's Sara we have a bit of a problem" she was hesitant.

"Is everything okay? The babies? You?" she was hoping there wasn't a problem; it wasn't what either Sara or Gil would need after everything else they'd gone through.

"No, we're fine well, me and the babies are fine but Gil came home and he's running a fever, his ear is bothering him to the point that he was like a kid trying to take his temperature with the thermometer you got us which, by the way thank you that thing is so much easier but I called his doctor who is out of town and the one covering is willing to stop by, haven't got a time yet and…." she paused.

"You need to postpone your start date?" Catherine chuckled. "Well, how about I tell Ecklie that you're on standby because Gil is down, then if anything super important comes up I'll page you and we can play it by ear?" Sara grinned thankful that the relationship with Catherine had become so solid as of late.

"God Cath that's great I'll keep my phone on….I handed in my pager…wait, I handed in my company phone too…shit!" she looked at Gil's that was sitting on the counter. "Just page me on Gil's phone if you need me, he's not going to be using it and if the nurse is right, this is bound to get worse before it gets better…." she thanked her Supervisor yet again for being so understanding and then went to check on Gil. He was out of the tub, in bed in flannel pajamas and shivering.

"Sara I don't think you should be around me just now" he whispered in a hushed tone as he smashed the pillow against the ear causing him such pain. "Please turn the lights off, my head….my eyes are killing Me." his voice croaked out in barely a whisper. "I really think I have the flu or something, my neck is sore….." she noticed that his skin looked a little reddish but attributed it to the bath he had just taken.

"Dr. Brebach is on his way over, he's covering for your regular Doctor tonight, apparently his Mom came down with this and it's going to get pretty nasty." she took over some tea and soup that she'd heated up for him. "I called Catherine and told her you weren't coming in tonight…possibly for the next several days if this follows the course the nurse thinks it will" she reached out and touched his forehead only to find it hotter to the touch. "I'm going to have to take your temperature again…" she saw his eye open and he stuck out his tongue. "I know…I know but I can't take it with my tongue so you'll have to endure Baby…" she kissed him only to have his shrink away from her.

"I don't want you to catch it….this can't be good for either you or the kids" he was genuinely concerned for her health.

"Too late, I've been exposed and I'm not about to leave you if you're sick!" she took the thermometer and gently place it in his ear; his temp was up to 104.0." Gil could tell by the look on her face that it wasn't going down. "The nurse said not to give you anything until the Doctor got here but I'm going to tell her your temperature is climbing….she pulled additional blankets from the closet and set them over him tucking them around his neck. "I'll be right back Babe" she kissed him again and felt small beads of sweat forming on his upper lip.

"Sara……I think I'm really sick" he tried to find a bit of humor in this but he couldn't muster the strength.

"I know Gil, I know and I plan on taking care of you." she walked out of the bedroom and made a mental list of everything she'd need to get him; tissues, whatever prescriptions the doctor said he needed, probably crossword puzzles because she knew that just a few days in bed and he was going to become nearly impossible to live with.

Thirty minutes later the doorbell rang and Sara had to herd Bruno outside so the Doctor could come in and avoid being mauled. The man at the door looked younger than Nick and Sara wondered if she was living through an episode of Dougie Houser.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Brebach, You must be Mrs. Grissom?" Sara shook his hand and led him inside. "You can call me Jim or James, whichever you're comfortable with." he smiled warmly and admired the home. "Lovely home you and your husband have here." he looked around. Sara thanked him with a warm handshake then closed the door behind him.

"He's upstairs, thank you we just purchased it" She led the way "by the way, I'm Sara, my husband is Gil….his fever has been steadily climbing but your nurse said not to give him anything until you saw him." she pointed toward the bedroom and then quietly followed him inside. Gil was curled on his side out like a light but his hair was now dark and damp from perspiration and he looked worse if that were possible.

"Mr. Grissom…" the Doctor moved forward and leaned over to examine him. "Gil!" he shook him and found it hard to get a response from the prone man. "Gil Grissom…..I'm Doctor Brebach….can you open your eyes?" he hated when people would simply shine a light in someone's eyes without warning them.

"Go away" Gil mumbled not realizing it was the doctor, he didn't really care who it was, they were making his head hurt and forcing him to open eyes that didn't want to cooperate.

"Mr. Grissom…..come on, I need to examine you" he flipped on the light and quickly did the eye exam. "I need you to turn your head so I can examine your ears." he felt Gil try to brush the scope away from his ear. "I know your wife said you have pain but I need to see if you have an infection." Gil tried to pull the covers up again and this time Sara leaned over the bed and pulled them down then held his hands still.

"Sssshhh Baby, it's okay, the doctor needs to see your ears" Gil turned toward her giving the Doctor a chance to stick the scope in.

"Shit…." he hissed between clenched teeth "That hurts…….make him stop" she smiled at the way he acted like a kid when he was sick, this was a first for her. "It will only be a few more minutes honey, then he'll take it out and give you something for the pain…." she kissed his forehead and continued pining down his hands.

"He has an infection as you thought, some drops will help with that" he stood up and put the scope away and pulled out his stethoscope. "Now I need to listen to his chest" he opened the top button on Gil's pajamas and put the scope against his skin, he drew back his hand "Man he's burning up!" he hooked the stethoscope around his neck and pulled out a thermo scan thermometer that would allow him to take Gil's temperature simply by running it across his forehead and down the side of his face. "104.3 I think we need to seriously consider taking him to the hospital!" Sara sat back and looked stunned.

"Doctor, what the hell is wrong with him?" she absentmindedly put her hand on her abdomen.

"Mrs. Grissom?" his eyes roamed to follow her hand. "How afar along are you?" he hoped he wasn't being presumptive in his call.

"I'm just into my second trimester" she looked up and there were tears in her eyes. "Is there a problem Doctor?" she saw a grave look cross his features.

"It could be whatever is going around but I haven't seen any of my other patients with fevers this high or climbing this fast." he was jotting down notes. "Has he complained of any headaches?" Sara knew he had a migraine when he left for work but assumed it was the usual brought on by stress. "Neck stiffness or anything like that?" she nodded slowly wondering where his line of questioning was leading. "Any of the following, fever, lethargy I can see for myself myself, irritability?" Sara nodded again. "Had he shown any photo phobia, rash, seizures?" Sara thought hard. "Last night he asked me to keep the lights down and he asked me to shut them off before you go here, but with his migraines that didn't seem uncommon and his skin looked a little flushed before I called you, I thought it was because he took a bath.." she knew the doctor was thinking something serious.

"Okay, look…I'm ….We're both Criminal Investigators, we see some of the most horrendous things you can imagine, if there's something seriously wrong with my husband as I can pretty much see from the look on your face, I'd appreciate it greatly if you didn't try to sugar coat it Doctor, that man is my life!" she stood before him and waited patiently for him to get the picture.

Mrs. Grissom, I don't like to jump to any wrong conclusions and I know from looks that I might seem very young to you but I assure you, I'm very qualified to make assessments on a patient's condition., what I think and I'm stressing that I'm pretty positive from all indications is your husband appears to have meningitis" he saw her sit down on the bed. "Whether it's bacterial or viral is the question right now, bacterial as you probably know being much worse than the other." he reached out to touch her shoulder. "I'm going to call an ambulance and while we have him there, I'd like your permission to run a few tests on you as well?" Too dumbfounded to do much else she nodded. "Is there anyone we can call for you?" Sara looked up; big brown caramel pools stared back at him as she pondered his question.

"I have to call my supervisor." she picked up the phone and tried to dial but her hands were shaking something terrible. The doctor, understanding her predicament took the phone from her and smiled.

"Name?" he scrolled through the phone book.

"Willows, Catherine Willows" she mumbled while staring at Gil who seemed to be worse by the minute. The Doctor pressed the appropriate button and waited until it was it connected.

"Willows….Sara what's going on?"

"Miss Willows? This is Doctor Brebach, I'm with Sara right now…." he heard the woman on the other end take a deep breath.

"What's wrong with Sara?" she figured something must have happened to her as she wasn't the one making the call.

"Right now, Sara is fine, it's Gil I'm most concerned with" he paused always hesitant about sharing bad news. "It seems he might have contracted meningitis." he heard her swallow. "I don't know if it's Viral or Bacterial and we're going to take him to the hospital right now" he looked at Sara and motioned for her to get her things. "I would like to have Sara checked out as well considering she's pregnant and I'd like the fetus…."

"Multiple doctor, Sara's pregnant with twins" she cut in "You take them both to the hospital and do whatever you must, I'll be there as quickly as I can" she listened impatiently as he told her where they'd be going. "Right, Desert Palms, they've both been there so they can register them as quickly as possible, I'll bring down whatever they need. Oh, and Doctor, do I have to worry about any of the other members of our team? Gil worked most the night with two of them." The doctor thought about it for a moment.

"Please tell them to be alert to any signs, lethargy, stiff neck, photo phobia, headaches….any hint of these and I want them in the hospital ASAP!" he knew from her voice that Catherine Willows would make sure of it. They hung up and the Doctor called for an ambulance. When he told the dispatcher he was a doctor, they rushed the call and the ambulance arrived in record time. Due to the nature of his possible illness, they took extreme care with him and after hooking him up to an IV, wrapping the blood pressure cuff around his bicep and getting vitals, getting leads on him and prepping him for the ride; they loaded him into the ambulance and were gone in a flash. Sara was in the rig right along side and held Gil's hand in a death grip.


	48. Chapter 48

A/N: Dad qualified for the experimental surgery to correct his mitral valve problem after only 24 study by the evalutaion team...yipee and great news. Grissom (my new Dobe) has settled in and is wonderful...how many of you can say you sleep with 'Grissom' on a nightly basis...nanananana! Thanks for the continued well wishes, the support and reviews., they've made this so much fun to work on and since our 'writers' aren't doing much...GSR forever...

I decided that I do own them...and since you can't find me, you can't have them back...

When they finally got to the hospital, Sara refused to release her tentative hold on Grissom's hand. "No, absolutely not!" she hissed at one of the nurses as she tried to forceably pull Sara away.

"Listen, if he does have meningitis, then you need to protect yourself!" she tried to reason with the distraught woman but Sara turned on her.

"I've been exposed already!" she turned back to Gil "I'm pregnant and I've already been exposed so there's not a damned thing you or anyone else can protect me from so I'm not leaving my husband and you along with anyone else you think is going to force me to can kiss my ass!" she turned back to Gil once more and whispered "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere...you aren't either Bugman" she kissed his parched lips and felt tears run down her cheeks. "Homer and Marge need their Daddy...you have to get better!" she rested a hand on his chest as they wheeled him into a bay in the Contagious Disease ward.

"He won't be allowed visitors beside you" one of the nurses who'd witnessed the exchange between Sara and the other nurse tried to soften her voice. "We'll do everything we can Mrs.?"

"Sara, just call me Sara and this is Gil...Gil Grissom" she rubbed lazy circles on his chest as they hooked him up to various machines and drips. She noticed that Doctor Brebach had joined them.

"Sara, they're going to run some tests on Gil, that's going to require you letting us take him where he needs to go" he gently touched her arm. "In the mean time, I'd like to run a few tests on you and ...Homer and Marge?" he smiled and she realized he must have heard her in the hallway. "Just precautions to make sure that the three of you are okay...then you can come back when he returns and I'll make sure you have a bed in his room...okay?" Sara was torn between leaving Gil and doing what she knew was best for him and the babies.

"You promise no one will keep me from him?" The doctor nodded. "And I can stay with him...until he's better?" he nodded again and thought '_as if anyone could keep the two of you separated_.' "I'm just so afraid doctor" she felt like she was about to collapse and he pulled a chair up for her.

"Have a seat, I'm guessing you've been under a lot of stress lately?" Sara nodded thinking "you don't know the half of it."She took the seat he offered and was handed a glass of water by one of the nurses that appeared out of no where.

"A bit" she smiled shyly wondering just how much the doctor actually knew.

"Well, I did a little checking, hope you don't mind but I like to know a little about my patients, even if I'm only filling in for Gil's doctor, seems you and he made remarkable recoveries from some perilous ordeals as of late." Sara nodded yet again, words failed her. She was more concerned with what Gil had been through compared to her. He'd been subjected to her abduction, his own ordeal of being held hostage and almost critically injured, more so nearly mortally wounded, while enduring her walking away from him. Compared to that, Sara didn't think much anymore of her own issues.

"It's not me I'm concerned with!" she stated simply and honestly. Doctor's head shot up and his face betrayed the lecture that was forthcoming.

"Sara Grissom, you've been through hell...your body took quite a beating and now you're pregnant with not only one baby but two...your husband was nearly killed and now he's critically ill, you've been exposed to whatever he has and you most certainly need to be concerned for you and your children as well." he softened his stance then knelt down beside her. "You can't help Gil if you're not healthy yourself and you won't help him if something happens to either you...or Homer and Marge." he winked. Sara nodded in agreement.

"I'll do whatever needs to be done to ensure that my children and my husband survive...and that I stay healthy as well!" she added for good measure and had Doctor smiling this time.

"Let's get some blood tests, I'd also like to do an ultrasound just to make sure that everything is progressing nicely" he led her down the hall to the lab knowing if he offered her a wheelchair, she might just tell him where to put it.

Gil was also having blood work taken,X rays and a CT scan had been ordered. The worst was when they ordered a test of his spinal fluid with a lumbar puncture and an Polymerase chain reaction analysis and the nurses were grateful that he was unconscious as several of them were aware of how painful the spinal tap was. One of the girls recognized him from when he'd been in after the hostage situation.

"He's a great patient until he is well and then he's a big bear about being hospitalized...just a warning if you get to take care of him while he's here...keep him buried in crossword puzzles and coffee" she winked at the other Nurse prepared the instruments that would be required for the tap.

"I'm glad he's out...I had one of these myself last year...My God it hurt like hell!" she unwrapped each instrument took a count and placed it on the tray the Specialist would be using. "I hope to God it's not Bacterial, remember the last patient we had with it?"

Shauna the younger nurse nodded. "He didn't make it did he?" Lydia shook her head.

"Left a wife and four kids that one did" she finished her prep work and paged the Specialist. It took about 10 minutes for him to come down to the OR. He picked up the orders and skimmed over the notes from the nurses and doctor attending to Gil.

"How's his fever?" he noticed that Gil felt very hot to the touch.

"Holding between 103.4 to 104 with alcohol baths, we can't seem to get it down. Dr.Brebach mentioned ice baths if it continues to rise." she held an ice pack against the back of Gil's neck and charted the recent temperatures. "I sure hope this isn't what they think it is."

He scrubbed in and gloved, doubled checked the notes and beginning drawing off the spinal fluid that Dr. Brebach had requested. The procedure took quite awhile and the nurses finished by dressing the wound the needle left.

The doctor agreed "He's in pretty bad shape right now but until this comes back from the lab" he held up the vial he'd just extracted "We can't be sure...the next 48 hours are going to be critical" he cleaned the site and covered it with a sterile bandage. "Well, let's get transport down here as quickly as we can and move him back upstairs,

now that we're finished here, we need to get him back to his room, I'm sure his wife is going out of her mind with worry" he'd heard about the struggle to get her to leave his side.

"She's pregnant with twins from what I heard" They waited with Gil until the transporter person came and wheeled him back to the Intensive Care Unit of the Contagious Disease Ward. "I hope that everything works out, do you know she's the one that was abducted and put under that car in the desert, he had to have been going mad looking for her.." she smiled as they moved him from the gurney to his bed then hooked up all the wired and Iv's that they'd moved with him." She looked at his face and wondered how much Gil had seen in his life as a Criminal Investigator "Their job must be pretty exciting" she continued on with her duties.

"Yeah but imagine what the hell they've had to have seen all those people out there murdering each other, kids getting hurt, raped or worse, has to be hard on the mind to put those things behind you and get a good night sleep" they agreed.

"Well, all I know is last time I took care of him, he was in really bad shape and made it through, my honest opinion is that it was having his wife with him that pulled him back from the brink." she remembered how Sara had stayed 24/7 by his side refusing half the time to even eat if it meant leaving him for a minute.

"She loves him very much, I head she worked with him, met him years before as a student of his at some seminar ...can you imagine a love like that lasting the test of time?" Lydia smiled thinking of her own marriage to a doctor that everyone said was out of her league, they'd met at a Medical Convention and hit it off, she wasn't trying to win any bets about dating a doctor and she's been very supportive as he furthered his education, often times working two or three shifts just to help with expenses.

"Yeah, I can..." she didn't need to elaborate, Shauna knew her history. "I think it's something else and I hope to God someone is watching over them two." she fluffed his pillow, put another ice pack behind his head and took another reading of his temperature, it was down to 103.4 this time.

Sara meanwhile had been put through a throat culture and blood work and a rush had been put on anything concerning she and Gil. The ultrasound showed that the babies were developing normally and so far did not seem to be bothered by anything that their mother was going through. "Everything looks good so far Sara, we've put a STAT order on the blood work and on Gil's other tests." he finished with the tech who had taken pictures for Sara to keep.

Later that evening, the doctor came in with his reports in hand. "I stuck around to see what the lab found out, never had results come in this fast but at least we know what we're dealing with. I was a little worried because of your pregnancy that it might be Listeria Monocytogenes or Listeria which you may or may not know could have been more serious for you and the babies, if it were and it crossed the placental barriers especially in later pregnancy, the result could be stillborn babies or usually they die right after birth...thank God we're not dealing with that." he took a gulp of air and saw Sara visibly relax.

"What are we dealing with Doctor?"

"It is Bacterial I'm afraid but since we know what it is, dealing with it will be that much easier. We're looking at Streptococcus Pneumonia, it's usually more prevalent in children but the tip off was the ear pain Gil was experiencing, I'm guessing that it came from an ear infection but hard to tell as often times, it can show up together. We'll continue to treat him with intravenous antibiotics, work to keep his fever down. My main concern right now is the fever and keeping any brain swelling which we have not found thus far to a minimum if we're faced with that. It's possible he may need to have any fluid that accumulates between the brain and membranes drained if that becomes a problem which, again we have not seen. We'll keep him hydrated and watch for shock, convulsions or swelling but I think with the antibiotics, the fact that we've seemed to have caught this early and time., everything should work out fine.

"Why is he still unconscious?" she was concerned about that.

"Well to be honest, I'm not sure, it could just be Gil's body has found the best way to heal, believe it or not Sara, sometimes that's a blessing in disguise. Often times, the best course of action is to let the body heal itself and right now, his body doesn't have to require food, liquids are being given and sometimes, you heal faster if you're body is in a light coma.

"Coma?" she shot a glance at him. "Gil's considered to be in a coma?" her voice held the terror she'd been trying hard to hold back. "How long?" the doctor shook his head and shrugged.

"Sara, please relax...I'm telling you the medical term for him being unconscious is a coma, you can't think of the long term ones that people don't come out of...my belief is that Gil's body just needed a rest and it's giving itself one right now...it could be a few hours, a day or even a week but I think as long as we keep on top of everything else, he'll be fine and come out of it." He gently touched her shoulder then motioned to the bed beside her husband. "Now, I'd like you to get some rest, I can give you something if you need it." she shook her head adamantly.

"Absolutely not...I plan on being right beside him until he comes to and nothing and no one is going to change that, are we crystal clear on that Doctor?" her tone told him she would give no leeway on this.

"Crystal Sara, crystal clear and I'll inform the nurses...unfortunately, Gil won't be allowed any visitors beside yourself right now but I'll have them bring in a phone so you can call his friends and let them know where we stand, I'm gathering that Catherine will need to make arrangements since you're both here?" Sara nodded thinking guiltily that the team was even shorter handed than before.

"I'll call her as soon as I have a phone" she smiled and thanked him before turning her attention to Gil's prone form. "You had better plan on waking up soon Mister..." she ran a finger up his arm hoping for some sort of response., she got none and felt tears welling in her eyes. "I can't do this alone Gil, I need you, Marge and Homer need you" she laughed thinking about the time they'd been watching the Simpsons and Gil cracked up laughing. It had scared the hell out of Bruno who had fled the bedroom.

"I think I just figured out our kids names!" he was laughing so hard that Sara started laughing with him. "What about Homer and Marge?" he looked deadly serious for a moment then couldn't contain his laughter and nearly fell off the bed. "Can you imagine, 'what's their names? Homer and Marge Simpson-Grissom!" she stopped laughing and stared at him.

"I don't' think so...I'm not having a blue haired baby!" she chuckled. "And I am not going to have a kid walking around constantly say Doh!" he rubbed her belly and crooned to them.

"Marge...Homer are you in there?" She looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

"Where the hell else would they be?" she wanted to kiss him right then and there, the innocent look of happiness was something that was rarely seen in the years before they finally got together and to see him laughing so hard that he was nearly in tears was something altogether. They'd taken to calling them Homer and Marge from that point on and when he told them at the lab about the names, Catherine asked if he needed his head examined, Warrick and Nick just shook their heads and thought he'd gone mad and Greg thought it was neat...as long as he could be one of their Uncles, he didn't really care what they were called.

Sara sat there chuckling and holding his hand as she repeated the story and how much she had fallen even more in love with him as he caressed her stomach and talked to the 'Simpson-Grissom kids'. "You were so funny, I almost peed my pants when I saw you laughing so hard...I thought you'd flipped out on me and Lord knows, you scared the shit out of the dog...I could just picture him saying 'What the hell is wrong with Daddy?' as he left the room. I love you so much Gilbert Grissom..." she rested her head against this thigh and sighed deeply.

She dosed off against his leg and dreamt of better times., when they first got together and spent hours either in bed or on the sofa planning the future. She thought of things they'd seen and shared, fears they'd finally talked about and put behind them. She remembered how easily he accepted her past and promised to be part of her future. She wondered how it was she was able to walk away when things got to be too much and how easily he'd taken her back but then, hadn't she done exactly the same when he returned from his Sabbatical?

Gil felt something pressing on his thigh but couldn't move his hand because of the IV that was in the top of his hand. He tried to open his eyes but it was an effort and moving his head was painful. He felt hot, like he had been in a sauna most the day and as he listened, he could hear beeping noises and machinery around him but his mind wouldn't fill in the blanks and tell him where he was. He started to move his legs and found that too was almost more than he was capable of so he grunted in discontent. Sara's head shot up immediately as she wiped the sleep from her eyes and focused on Grissom.

"Gil?" she leaned close to his ear. "It's Sara can you hear me?" she whispered because she wasn't sure whether or not his headache might have subsided with the massive doses of meds being pumped into his veins. "You're in the hospital Sweetheart, you have Bacterial Meningitis but they caught it early" she kissed his cheek and saw the corner of his mouth quirk into a smile. "You're going to be okay...the doctors said you might be in a mild coma but I know you can hear me...I love you Honey...me and Homer and Marge are waiting for you to come back to us..." her eyes filled with tears and she pressed her lips to the side of his head. He felt slightly cooler and wished a nurse were nearby so she could ask them to take his temperature again. "You go ahead and sleep if you need to, they say you'll get better faster if you do" she said one thing but dearly wished another.


	49. Chapter 49

He dreamt that he was tied down., he could actually feel the restraints on his wrists, he could feel the unmanageable weight dragging his limbs down. He was in the desert, sitting on or lying on a mesa above where a wrecked red mustang was being dropped off a flatbed truck. He wanted to scream to the driver to stop, put it back on the truck and leave. His mind knew what was happening as the flatbed sped off through the dry desert sand beds.

"No...no don't leave it here, someone's going to use it to hurt someone I love..." he thought he screamed at the driver but he couldn't be sure, his lips moved, his chest hurt with the effort but he couldn't remember if he actually heard his own voice.

The dream switched, it was nightfall now, another car pulled up and he could clearly make out Natalie surveying the area before she pulled Sara, prone and unconscious from the back seat...he could feel the shards of sand cutting into her skin as Natalie pulled her toward the wreckage.

"Natalie stop...don't do this., she doesn't deserve to die...take me, kill me instead., I'm the one responsible for Ernie killing himself. "Please, don't do this...no one deserves to die...you have a chance to change this...please, don't take her away...I'm begging, I love Sara...please I love Sara and I can't live without her...please Natalie don't do this...

He felt weight on his chest almost as if it were the car itself...but this was warm and the scent was highly familiar. He felt warm wisps of breath against his ear...

"Bug man...Gil...Gilbert, it's Sara...I'm right here!" she felt his hand shoot out and grasp her arm. "It's okay, you're in the hospital Sweetheart, you're safe, we both are...they're treating you for meningitis and you've had a high fever."

"Natalie has Sara...she's going to hurt her...I can't lose her...I love her, I don't care if Ecklie knows...I love her, I've loved her since I saw her in my class...I was too stupid wasting all these years and now it's too late., Natalie has her and I never told her I..." Sara leaned over and kissed him fully on the lips.

"No one is going to take me from you Gilbert Grissom" she rubbed the side of his face with the back of her hand. "Gil...can you hear me?" she waited patiently. He turned his head and struggled to open his eyes, they still didn't want to cooperate. "Gil, you're in Desert Palms Hospital...I'm with you and I need you to try to wake up." Sara was in tears, she saw Gil seeming to struggle while he was unconscious and from what she could tell, it wasn't anything pleasant. The monitors were going nuts, his heart rate was elevated beyond normal, his blood pressure was rising as was his temperature and the fear that there could be swelling in the brain was another real possibility as the nurses rushed into the room. One led Sara to a chair after taking in her features.

"Come on sweetie, right here, go ahead and sit..." she motioned to the nurse assistant "You need to page Dr. Brebach tell him both of his patients are not doing well." she saw Sara starting to shake uncontrollably. "Get me a warming blanket and let's get Sara into the bed" she lifted one arm and Sara was only slightly aware that someone was on her other side helping her up. "This way...come on we're going to move you over here..."

"No...no I can't leave him!" she screamed but her eyes remained focused on the bed where nurses and a doctor were assessing his condition.

"You'll be right here on the other side of the room, no one is going to make you move but right now Sara, you can't help him...you need to let the doctor check you out" she got Sara seated on the bed and cold OB/Glyn.

"I have a 35 year old patient here, multiple pregnancy who was exposed to meningitis, her husband is having an episode and I'd like someone to bring me a monitor, I'm a bit worried about the patient and the two fetuses she's carrying...could you make it STAT!" she turned back to Sara as Dr. Brebach entered the room.

"What happened?" he quickly moved to Gil seeing that he was apparently the worst of the two.

"Patient's monitors started going nuts, he's been mumbling incoherently and his temperature is climbing again." they read off everything they knew and Sara saw them bring in some sort of gurney with a rubber sheet that reminded her of a life raft.

"What are they doing to him?" she tried to sit up but her progress was impeded by the nurse stationed at her side.

"They're going to immerse him in ice, it's the only way now to control the fever and keep any chances of brain swelling and damage down" she gently tried to get Sara to lay back as one of the techs from OBY/Gyn moved a monitor up near her own bed.

"We're going to hook you up and see how you're handling this stress " she lifted Sara's gown and apologized for her hands being cold. "That was we can take precautions with you as well Sara" she knew that the younger woman wasn't listening as she watched them strip Gil down to nothing. "I honestly know that this is difficult for you, please don't think than anyone of us don't understand that Sara but right now, you have to take care of you and let us take care of both of you. I know he's your world, honestly honey I do but if he comes to and somethings happened to you or the kids...what then?" Sara nodded slowly knowing what she said was the truth. Gil had proved in the past that he'd rather die then have anything more happen to her or their kids...and she wasn't going to be the one to push him over the edge.

He hates to be cold!" she stated remembering how often times he'd bitch and complain when the weather would wreak havoc on his body. "Do you think that will help?" she saw them lift him up and slide the liner under him, most she could see was the tip of his nose as they settled him in and began loading the bed with ice. They covered the appropriate areas as to avoid any frostbite or damage but then they completely buried him including his head, ears and neck in a layer of cubes. She waited with the rest of those in the room as the stared at the thermometers now hooked to him.

"Sara..." Brebach interrupted her thoughts "I'm going to have to give you something to lower your blood pressure!" he was reading the printouts from the various monitors now hooked to her. "See, your son seems to be handling the stress a little better than the girl" Sara looked up at him, eyes opened wide and tears threatened to pour forth. "I'd like to give you something to help you relax as well" she was shaking her head and looking at him like she wanted to kill him. "Sara...listen to me, the babies are YOUR concern right now, Gil is MINE!" his voice held a hint of anger only so that he could get through the fog she was in. Sara nodded and handed him her arm. "The nurse is going to put an IV line in right now so we can use it if needed" he didn't want to scare her anymore than was absolutely needed to get her to comply. She watched at they tied on the tourniquet and then as the nurse felt for a vein, satisfied she had the best area, she thoroughly disinfected the area then put the line in. Sara didn't even flinch as her eyes wandered between her hand, the monitors she was hooked to and those that Gil was attached to.

"Is he responding?" she saw the doctors add something to Gil's IV as well and then look at the nurses surrounding him.

"His temperature is not responding to the treatment...we've given him anti-convulsion medication just in case" he knew he needed to be completely honest with her, in all likelihood, if there wasn't any response in the next 20 to 30 minutes, Gil was in real danger of swelling around his brain, convulsions and possible brain damage if not death.

"I...we" she started crying "I can't lose him Doc, he's everything I have..." Doctor looked over at the nurse standing at the head of her bed.

"Perhaps we should call Catherine...you need someone here with you." she shook her head.

"She has a daughter, I won't risk exposing her to this, absolutely not!" he touched her arm.

"Pick someone, you can't do this alone!" She thought about it carefully and decided the person should know the risks involved with being near her. She asked for a phone and and her finger hesitated between Nick and Greg. She weighed her options and dialed Nicky.

"Stokes!" he answered on the first ring, everyone was on standby with Gil and Sara being in the hospital.

"Nicky..." she started crying the moment she heard his voice. "Nicky I...I need..."

"What do you need Sara? Do you want me to come there?" Catherine had filled them all in on both of their conditions, the possibility that Sara had been exposed and that Gil was in critical condition. "Sara, stay on the phone sweetheart, stay with me and I'll be there as soon as I can...don't hang up...you can talk to me until I get there.." he heard her sob and mumble something.

"It might not be safe for you" she knew what she was asking made her feel selfish but she also knew she wasn't handling everything by herself."

Conrad Ecklie was behind Nick as he overhead part of the conversation. "Stokes, take the Denali and get over there, if Sara needs you go!" he stood there pointing at the door.

"I'll punch out..." Conrad was shaking his head.

"Just go, you can stay on the damned clock all night if you want, I don't care but Sara shouldn't be alone right now., ask her if there is anything I can do.." Ecklie knew he was usually the last person anyone would want to depend on but he had to make the offer.

"Sara, Conrad asked if there was anything he can do...I'm on my way, I'll be there in 10 minutes or less, do you want to stay on the phone?" She mumbled that she thought she needed to and Nick understood her desire for contact. "I'm right here sweetie, I'm right here...tell me, what's going on with Gil?" he hadn't had any updates and wanted to know what he was walking into.

"He's not responding Nicky, his temperature is going up and they've packed him in ice, you know Gil hates to be cold, he's going to be so cold...I don't think he's going to make it Nicky..." she sobbed and Nick's heart broke.

"Sweetheart! Do not say that...Gil has you and the kids and he's a fighter...he'll make it!" he wasn't convinced himself knowing that he'd spent some of his free time on the Internet studying meningitis, it's cause and the effects it could have.

"They gave him something in case he goes into convulsions...oh Nicky if he does they said there could be brain damage...Gil wouldn't want to live like that...we talked about it...he said no machines..." she was crying and the doctor beside her grew concerned with each passing moment. He signaled the nurse to get a sedative. There was no way he was going to let her risk her own health or that of the babies, he knew better looking at the relationship before him.

"What's that for?" she saw him uncap the needle and tap out any air bubbles.

"This will help you relax" she looked ready to fight him. "Sara, I don't have a choice, I have to give you something to relax you...the babies are handling everything but just barely, my concern is for your little girl right now...and I promise, I won't give you more than you need...but Sara, I have to tell you, I'm worried about you and the babies right now..." She wanted to pull her hand away.

"I don't want to sleep, I want to be here in case he wakes up" what she meant was she wanted to be there in case he didn't but couldn't bring herself to mouth those words. Dr. Brebach heard them loud and clear. He administered the medication and waited until he saw her head start to bob and her eyes start to droop.

"She's gonna be one pissed off lady!" the nurse knew the dosage and knew that she'd be out for at least the next several hours.

"She'd be more pissed if something happens to those babies" he was willing to take his chances and now that he had her relaxed and sedated, he could turn his full attention to Gil and from the looks of everything, he was going to need everything in his arsenal to pull him through. It didn't look like it could get much worse until the nurse noticed that Gil's heart seemed to be giving out...

"He's starting to code Doctor!" she screamed just as a gowned Nicky entered the room.

"Get me a crash cart Stat!" he yelled and everyone who had been moving at lightening speed seemed to have geared up even more, the room was a buzz of activity as people pulled machines around, they lowered the head of Grissom's bed and the doctor directed one of the assistants to intubate him. They needed to get him out of the water and dried before they could apply the defibrillator, pulling him free, none of the team paid even the smallest attention to the fact that water and ice were flowing all around them. The doctor was given a rubberized stool to stand on as nurses made sure that every inch of Grissom's body was thoroughly dried then the paddles were applied, once and nothing happened...a second time with more power and still nothing happened. "Dam you Gil Grissom you are not going to give up...you are NOT going to die on me or Sara!" he asked for additional jewels and the third time he hit Gil with the paddles, his body lifted higher off the bed and they waited with baited breath...

Nicky was beside Sara, gathering her still form in his arms, he wasn't going to let her face losing Gil alone even though his own heart was breaking as he watched the life and death struggle of the doctors working on his supervisor and friend...

Between hits with the paddles, one doctor worked the intubation bag while the other did chest compressions only stilling long enough to see if his heart responded.

"How long has he been down?" Dr. Brebach worked diligently to get his patient back.

"Two minutes...we're at the two minute mark?" he caught the question in her tone and his voice assured her he had.

"I'm not giving up on him...he has too much to lose...keep working and give me more jewels!" he stood back. "Clear..." and rubbed the paddles together one last time as he then pressed them to Gil's chest. His body jolted upright and then flopped back down and all eyes turned to the monitor to gauge any response. The line remained flat for a moment or two then there was a slight waiver...then another...and yet another then it flattened yet again and everyone held their breath...a moment more and they were rewarded with another series of beats and then a steady normal sinus rhythm could be heard throughout the room..

"We got him back!" The nurse hugged Nicky and the sleeping Sara.

"He was down for awhile!" Nick had spent enough time in the hospitals to know that they'd come close to the point of no return.

"He stayed under the three minute mark" Dr. Brebach "We got lucky!" he looked at the temperature reading and noticed that it had dropped nearly two degrees. "Someone is looking over this man's shoulder today!" he nodded and the nurses looked in the direction.

"I've never seen nothing like it..." he admitted after 10 years of practice. "There is no reason his temperature should have dropped with us working on him like we were..." he knew that the answer wasn't going to be found in any text books and he silently thanked God for lending yet another hand. "But tonight, I'll take any miracles I can get" they resumed placing ice packs under Gil's head and shoulders but decided against immersing him again. "Get CT here, I want another brain scan Stat...might as well see how everything is progressing." he went over where Nick was still holding Sara and smiled. "She'll be out for a few hours and I imagine when she wakes up, she'll be pissed as hell that I sedated her, but Mr. Stokes..."

"Nick...it's just Nick" he wanted to hug the doctor but his arms were already full.

"Nick, it might be better for everyone if we make mention of the last five minutes" Nick agreed..."She's been through hell from what I've read and understand and from what I've seen, they mean the world to each other" Nick smiled.

"You don't know the half of it., she's been the love of his life for years, since he taught a seminar at he college...only he was a little...slow on the upstart if you get my drift?" Nick was laughing and so was the Doctor..."They finally got together as you see but it nearly cost them their jobs and recently, their lives...but to have a love like these two have is a once in a lifetime dream..." Nick knew he'd at one time lusted after Sara and when he first realized she had eyes only for Grissom, he'd been no less than totally confused and during a night of cards and drinking, had asked Warrick what the appeal was.

"He's way older than her.."

"She seems to be turned on by the blue eyes and gray hair" Warrick threw in his bet.

"He's antisocial!" Nick drew on the cigar he smoked only during poker games.

"She's not Miss Congeniality herself!"

"He likes bugs!" he was losing at poker and not doing much better in trying to find reasons Sara wasn't Grissom material.

"She doesn't seem to mind them in fact, I was at her place once, she has butterflies on her bathroom walls., real mounted butterflies, my guess a gift from Grissom.

"She's hot!" he folded and picked up a beer. "He's ... he's not hot!" he couldn't think anymore..."He was interested in that Anthropology woman and then Lady Heather, now I could see him with Lady Heather..." he wolf whistled and Warrick looked at him.

"Teri Miller was a colleague, Lady Heather was probably no more than a distraction though Catherine swears they spent the night together, I seriously doubt it..." he dealt another hand.

"Yeah? Why's that?" he often heard the rumors but no one was every able to substantiate them and no one would risk pissing off Grissom by hinting or asking him to his face.

"Grissom is not a love em and leave em kinda guy if you ask me." Warrick stubbed out his own cigar and picked up his beer. "I see him as the guy in it for the long haul." he toasted the air and took a deep drink.

"Yeah, somehow or another it wouldn't surprise me to find out he's a 50 something year old virgin!" he knew he'd overstepped when Warrick slammed his cards down.

"You Stokes know nothing about Grissom, I don't either but sitting her making fun of him because Sara's in love with him and not you isn't something a friend does!" Nicky gulped.

"I didn't mean anything by it..." he put out his cigar and stood up dropping his cards on the table. "I was just teasing ya know...?" he knew the night had come to an end and Warrick refused to look at him. "It's just sometimes you felt like Grissom didn't care..." he didn't get to finish the statement.

"He cared enough. You didn't seem him when you went missing, you didn't see him staring at that screen sure you were going to die and there wasn't anything his super intelligent brain could do about it..." he stood up directly in front of his friend. "You were busy going about your business while I did something stupid, he cared enough to override Sara's recommendation to fire me...and he put his ass on the line when he told the big boys he wasn't going with their demands either. Nick slid his arms into his coat. "He cared enough when Greg nearly got his brains bashed in to get to the hospital and then without Greg knowing it, called his parents had a meeting with them to explain how Greg had outgrown the lab and how he'd become and integral part of our team." he took a deep breath, "How about making life and death decisions when Brass got shot, or caring enough to be the one to tell your best friend it was his gun that killed another cop?" Nick was backing toward the door. "Or covering for Catherine, watching her back with Eddie, when the lab blew up, making sure she didn't get fired...and then we have Sara." he picked up the empties and one by one tossed them into the trash container, content to hear them shatter inside the plastic bags. "He cared enough to finally pull his head out of the microscope and go after her, he cared enough to let her leave and find her way and he cared enough to take her back...even if it was for a short time...!" he hoped to God that last statement wasn't right...

"I got it...honestly War I got it...I was wrong...but sometimes..." he couldn't finish, couldn't tell his best friend that sometimes when he saw them together, his jealousy reared its ugly head and he would wish they'd break up and he'd be there to help her through..."I guess I better get going!" he left and never spoke of that night again.

Tonight however, he relieved every single sentence that Warrick had told him and he realized that while he loved Sara...it was that of a brother and sister and the man in the bed beside her was indeed the right person for her. "He loves you Sara, you and Homer and Marge and he deserves to be happy and life a full and happy life with you all by his side...I love you Sara but he loves you with everything he has and everything he is." he kissed the crown of her head and felt her stir.

"Grissom...Grissom I love you..." she turned in his arms and snuggled her head against his chest then fell back into a deep sleep. Nick sat and caressed her hair supporting most of her upper body in his arms.

"Grissom loves you too Sara...Grissom loves you too" he rocked her gently then laid her on the pillow content that he would have a few minutes to make a phone call and update the team.


	50. Chapter 50

"What? Oh My God Nicky No!" Catherine's voice echoed off the glass walls of the lab and everyone within earshot turned to see what had happened. At this point everyone was aware that Grissom was in the hospital fighting for his life and Sara was not fairing well beside him. "How long was he gone?" she knew the three minute mark was the beginning of the end.

"Just past two minutes Cath, they really had to jolt him several times to get his heart going...I was sure they'd lost him" his own voice belayed the tears that poured down his cheeks. "They'd sedated Sara so she didn't have to witness that but my God Cath, I can't imagine how I would have handled telling her if they didn't save him."

"He's not out of the woods yet Nick but when she wakes up, be ready she's going to be one pissed off woman!" she smiled at the many times she'd seen Sara's ire..in fact she remembered clearly the day she'd been at the receiving end and almost cost the younger woman her job. Little did she know at the time why Sara was so effected by Domestic Abuse cases but when she finally found out the truth, she admired her that much more for the dedication she approached each case with.

"We're not going to tell her how close we came Cath, that's why I waited to call you till I was out of the room" he looked around. "The doctor was concerned, the baby girl wasn't handling the stress and then there was a shift and the first baby was in distress as well so they opted to put Sara out to save them all." he could see her through the glass as he stood watching for any signs that she was coming too.

"What about Grissom's fever? Any signs that it's coming down?" Nick shook his head and smiled.

"It's strange Cath, the doctor said he'd never seen anything like it in 10 years of practice but when they finally got him back, his temp had dropped by two degrees, even the ice bath they submerged him in hadn't accomplished that." Nick knew that the only answer was someone or something greater than all of them. "I'm gonna stay with her, she was going to ask you from what the doctors told me but with you having Lindsey, she wouldn't risk it she knows about you and Ric so she called me...I'm gonna stick it out and see what happens and I'll call you the minute I hear any changes." they exchanged warm wishes and hung up. Nick returned to her side and took a moment to study his boss who was now resting peacefully on the other bed. The nurse was adjusting the ventilator that he'd been placed on. "Ugh...Griss didn't want to be on life support!" he felt stupid telling her that but remembered his conversation with Sara.

"It's only temporary, with the stress his body has been under, his lungs need a break for a bit...the machine is only helping him breath but it's adjusted so it's not doing all the work." she smiled warmly at him. "My name is Tasha by the way"

"Nick...Nick Stokes, I'm a friend and co-worker of Sara's" he motioned to the still woman beside him.

Catherine filled everyone in at the lab about the situation at the hospital in limited details. The only two that honestly knew how serious it had gotten was Ecklie and Brass.

"He's in bad shape?" Conrad sat behind his desk rubbing his temples. "Do you think they'll be any permanent damage?" Ecklie had kept himself abreast of the news on Gil and also did some research on his own. "Sara's gonna need time to nurse him back to health." how easily those two names now fit together. Once upon a time he'd considered her a 'loose cannon with a gun' but now he knew she was as dedicated to her job as Gil had been and somehow, even though it had been frowned upon, she'd gotten him to go against policy and begin a relationship. Conrad knew from the time he'd witnessed them together from the first moments that there was something 'special' there between them. "I know Gil's got a ton of time on the books and they're gonna need some help so Sara can pull a paycheck as well" he knew they'd recently bought a new home. "I was thinking about donating some of my days off so they don't have any problems.

Catherine and Brass sat there, jaws agape at the offer.

"What? Come on, I'm not the evil ogre that everyone makes me out to be...ya know, I do have a heart once in awhile!" he snickered under his breath.

"You just think that if you show it everyone will take advantage of it.." Brass laughed but understood.

"Look, let's just do whatever we can to help them out...Gil deserves a break so does Sara...and with a baby..." Brass looked at Catherine who smiled as he held out two fingers.

"What? Two babies...Twins?" even Conrad couldn't help smiling. "Damned overachiever if I ever saw one" and they all shared a laugh. "I hope to God he's okay..." Catherine and Brass nodded in agreement. "You probably won't get in to see him until they clear him...but since Stokes is there, I'm going to leave him with Sara if that's okay with you guys?" they nodded "I'll pull some reserves off Days and Swing if needed just let me know."

"Nick said she was under sedation, there was a problem with the babies tolerating the stress levels but apparently with her out, they're doing better and thank God she wasn't awake to witness them almost losing Gil." the thought still caused her eyes to water and her hands to shake. Yeah, she wanted the supervisor job, not Grave so his position was secure but she knew that he was still relatively politically tone deaf. She wanted to prove to him, Ecklie and everyone else that she could be a huge asset to Days but right now, she didn't care if she stayed on Grave forever if it meant Gil coming back in good health.

"Has anyone sent Greg over to walk Bruno?" Brass looked at Catherine who received a strange glance from Ecklie. "Their Boxer, they even have a dog, a house...three car garage..." Brass was grinning from ear to ear as Conrad took this all in. "He's living the American Dream!" he sounded thrilled for his friend.

"Right now they're both living a nightmare and I for one am going to try to relieve some of the stress. Catherine I want you to tell Sara first chance you get that while she's back on payroll, I do not expect to see her ass in my lab until she comes in along side Grissom!" he was trying to slip back to the Conrad Ecklie worlds biggest ass mode but it wasn't working. "Brass I want guards stationed on them, they're not to leave that hospital until every doctor, every specialist they see tells them it's okay..." he jotted notes for himself.

"Brass why don't you see if Greg can take Bruno home until they're better, that way he won't have to spend an entire day locked in a house wondering where his parents are." Ecklie snickered at the thought of Grissom calling himself Daddy to a dog or Sara calling herself Mommy...

"Hey it can happen!" Catherine chuckled, little did she know that Ecklie was a cat person and he really found nothing wrong with coming home and telling his two Persian Longhairs that their daddy was home and oh so happy to see his little kitty cats...and it was something he would die before sharing with anyone.


	51. Chapter 51

Sara felt foggy, her vision wasn't clear but she could feel a warm body holding her tightly and at first she believed it might be Grissom until the reality of where she was and why came crashing back. It was Nicky holding her and Gil was asleep on the other bed and apparently hooked up to a ventilator.

"Oh God Nicky!" she buried her face in his collar "He said no machines...I told you he said no machine!" she was near panic and Nick held her tighter.

"They said it's only temporary" he assured her "he had a little bit of trouble and with everything going on, his heart and his lungs need a break Sar that's all...he just needed a break." he wasn't sure how much he should tell her but knew she was smart enough to need some answers.

"Why did they sedate me? Are the babies okay?" her hand quickly went to her abdomen and she silently willed one or both of the babies to move. After a few minutes of poking and prodding her own stomach, she apparently woke a very unhappy baby who flipped around causing her to chuckle. "Sorry baby, Mommy just wants to make sure you're both okay" she looked up and saw the tears in Nick's eyes. "Something happened didn't it Nicky?" she started to sit upright and he tried to stop her.

"Sara calm down, you aren't helping yourself, you're not helping those babies" he motioned to her belly "and you're not going to help him if you don't get yourself under control!" it was probably the first time she'd ever heard him take this tone with her and her eyes widened in surprise. "If you calm down, I'll tell you everything if not, then the doctors can come in, tell you what they think you need to hear and they'll probably wind up putting you out again!" he stood up and gave her a moment to weigh her options.

"Tell me!" She hissed through clenched teeth "He's my husband!" she looked at him and fire might as well have flown from her eyes with the glare she was giving, Nick was having none of it and turned from her, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"You relax and calm down, I tell you" he reached for the button that would bring a nurse to the room "or so help me God Sara, I'll press this button and I'll restrain you myself if you don't!" he was inches from her face and she could feel his warm breath. "What's it going to be?" They remained that way for a few moments, him like a commanding officer and she like a petulant child. Finally, knowing that he wasn't about to tell her anything until she did, she sat back, took a deep breath and held her hands up in surrender.

"Okay...see I'm relaxed...I'm calm...I'm f..." Nick's hand shot up knowing that she was going to use that damned 'fine' word once again.

"You say you're fine...I'll call the nurse, I mean it Sara Jayne Sidle-Grissom" she was stunned when he used her full name. "One inkling that you're upset or losing control again and I press this button...are you perfectly clear on that?" he stood still holding the device inches from her arm.

"Crystal Nicholas Michael Stokes, crystal!" she sat back knowing he had the upper hand.

"Grissom's temperature started to shoot up and they put him in an ice bath..." she shook her head recalling that. "It wasn't working but I think it might have shocked his system because his heart stopped." Nick knew that being anything less than honest was something Sara would see right through. "They worked on him, he was gone for just over 2 minutes Sara...they got him back but it took quite a bit of work, they shocked him three or four times" he let it slowly sink in. "They said they put him on the vent just to give his system a break, I told them how he felt about machines and they assured me it was only a temporary thing."

"Is he...?" she couldn't bring herself to say it. "Is there any chance of...brain...Oh Jesus Nicky...Oh God what do I do if he doesn't make it?" her hands wrapped tightly around her waist and she looked at him with the most devastating look he's ever seen on her face. "I can't make it without him!"

"Sara" he warned her holding up the button but she shook her head.

"I'm okay Nick, I have to be for my babies and for Gil...I have to be..." she looked up where her husband was laying and watched as he chest rose and fell in easy rhythm to the machine doing the majority of the work. "When will they try to take him off?" Nick wasn't sure and pressed the button figuring the nurse could tell them more. It was only an instant later she came in and her eyes shot immediately to Sara.

"She's fine!" Nick stated then smiled when Sara looked at him. "We're wondering when they might try to take him off the machine?" The nurse picked up his chart and quickly scanned the notes.

"Well, so far his temperature is down to 102.4 which considering how high it was is great, it's going in the right direction. Well probably do a portable chest x ray to watch for pneumonia and he seems to be responding to the antibiotic drip they have him on." she looked at Sara to make sure she was clear on everything. "If all goes well, I'm guessing they might try to wean him off tonight or by morning at the latest." she put the chart back in its holder on Gil's bed then moved over to Sara. "Now, let's check you and the kids...what did they say Marge and Homer?" she winked and Sara relaxed visibly for the first time.

"Those were his idea" she motioned to Gil "it kinda stuck afterwards and..." she rubbed her belly but her tears fell. "If that's what he wants to call them...at this point...I don't care as long as he's around to call them...anything" the last word was a whisper. "Can you tell me something?" the nurse looked up as she took Sara's blood pressure, temperature and pulse.

"If I can" she wasn't promising anything.

"Will they, would they be able...if there was any brain..." she couldn't find the right words.

"They have him scheduled for a CT and MRI of his brain later today., they would be able to see some damage if there is any, what they're looking for is fluid between the brain membrane and his skull which so far we've avoided" she touched Sara's shoulder. "But Sara, until he wakes up and can talk with us, we won't know anything definitive about any long term effects of all of this." she knew that Sara understood where they were at the moment.

"Thank you, both of you for being honest." She reached out and took Nick's hand. "I'm sorry for making you worry and dragging you here, I know it's a health risk..." she was going to say more but she could see from the smile behind Nicky's mask that he understood.

"Sara, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." he sat on the bed and hugged her. "Okay...I would but ... " he shook his head remembering the discussion with Warrick "If I was going to lose any chance with you I guess I'd rather it was to the big guy over there" he honestly felt that now, he'd seen what almost losing Grissom had done to Sara, not that he hadn't noticed how lost she'd seemed the time he'd left her for his Sabbatical but at that time, Nick was still hoping that any screw up by Grissom would benefit his cause with Sara.

"You know I love you right Nick?" she wanted him to be very clear on this.

"Like a brother and sister kind of love right?" She nodded and he kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry if I ever made you think it was more than that Nick but truth be told, the first time I walked into his classroom and saw him standing there, powder blue polo, beige dockers, I knew I was smitten." she chuckled at the memory. "I don't know how impressed he was with this crazy broad with the pony tail and tie dyed clothes but apparently he remembered because he recently reminded me about how I asked to many questions about Anthropology..." she leaned against his side, happy to share a moment with her friend.

"It's funny, all the time I worked with him, I never pictured him as affectionate or loving or...capable of a relationship. He was always moody and then suddenly, after I was kidnapped..." his mouth dropped and his eyed opened. "Oh My God!" Nick stiffened and then cracked up laughing "You two got together afterwards didn't you?" Sara smiled shyly and nodded. "I knew it...I just knew it...he was so...different afterwards and here I was thinking it was because of me!" he teased.

"It was because of you Nicky" she thought back to how they'd connected after they'd successfully found him. "Until then, he swore he didn't' know what to do about 'this' she used her fingers to do the quotation marks. "Not even the lab explosion woke him up and after I opened my mouth and invited him to dinner...and he turned me down!" she hoped she wasn't boring him but Nick motioned for her to continue. "That's when he started to assign me to cases with everyone but himself and then he tells me to get a life and that's when I went out with Hank..." Nick nodded remembering the asshole and how he'd cheated on Sara...or with Sara if the rumors were correct. "There was really nothing there, we went to movies and dinner but honestly Nick, I was so in love with Grissom that any thought of sleeping with someone other than him made me sick to my stomach, it was like if I did that, I would have cheated on Grissom and I know that sounds so stupid because he wasn't mine at the time and..." Nick placed his hand under her chin and brought her face up to look in her eyes.

"Sara, Grissom has always been yours" he smiled "He just didn't take the time to realize it." he kissed her lightly on the cheek and then motioned for her to stand feeling she might be more comfortable sitting beside Gil then on the edge of her bed. He moved the chair over for her and helped her get comfortable then said he'd be back but wanted to update the team and would give them some time alone.

"Thanks Nicky" she leaned over and took Gil's hand in hers. "Hey there Gilbert" she rubbed little circles on the backside of his hand. "I heard you gave them some trouble there for awhile?" she wasn't sure if he could hear her but having read about comas, she realized it couldn't hurt. "I know you told me no machines Gil and I'm sorry they put you on one...no I'm not sorry because it's helping but I'm sorry if it went against your beliefs" she continued resting her head against his arm. "Marge and Homer are here and they want their Daddy to get better and wake up very soon, so does their..." she started to sob "So does their Mommy" she leaned closer and kissed his cheek. "I love you so much it hurts sometimes" she whispered against his skin "I never thought I could love someone so much but then again, I never thought that anyone would love me like you do" she pressed small kisses where ever she could reach around the tube and the elastic holding it in place. "When you love me, when you make love to me...it's something almost spiritual the way we connect, I've never felt that with anyone and ..." she pressed her forehead against his cheek "I don't ever want to lose that." she closed her eyes and swallowed." She was leaning against him and paid little attention to the fact that she was no longer holding his hand, Gil was now holding hers...and his forefinger was tapping against her palm.

"Gil?" she looked up startled and started to pull away thinking her mind was playing tricks on her but when she felt his hand tighten around her own, she knew better. "Gilbert?" she saw his eyes flutter, the long lashes against his pale cheeks were wet with tears. "Oh God Gil...hang on let me call the doctor..." she reached over him with her free arm and pressed the nurses' call button.

"Mrs Grissom is there something?" the nurse came over to stand beside her and together they stared down at Gil who was staring right back up at them. "Mr. Grissom, nice to have you back!" she read his monitors and picked up the chart on his bed. His temperature was down to 101.6 and his pulse and blood pressure were nicely within range. "Mr Grissom, I'm going to move my finger in front of your face, I want you to try to follow it with only your eyes." he did as he was told, back and forth and up and down. "Very good...now I'm going to test your response to some stimuli if that's okay?" he blinked then lifted his arm to motion to the tube down his throat. "That will come out in a little bit, the respiratory therapist will have to remove that." he blinked again. She pulled up the blankets and tested his reflexes and all four limbs seemed to be responding just the way they needed to. "I'm very impressed" she smiled at both Gil and Sara.

The therapist came in a short while later and asked how the patient was doing. Gil frowned then motioned to the ventilator, so far he'd been patient and tried very hard not to fight the machine even when he wanted to breath faster than the machine was allowing him to. "Okay, I'm going to remove the tube but there's every possibility that doing so may make you want to vomit, it's happened to me" she assured them and moved the necessary equipment in place just in case. When he was ready she gloved up and wrapped a piece of gauze around the tube for better purchase. "Okay, on the count of three I want you to take a deep breath and I'm going to remove this...she counted off, pulled the tube from his throat and watched as true to her prediction, he emptied his stomach in the pink plastic basin. "Okay, I know that tastes pretty awful" she pushed the buttons on the bed so Gil was now sitting upright. "Let me get you something to rinse your mouth with." she handed him a mixture of mouthwash and water. Gil swished the solution around his mouth and was nearly tempted to swallow when she shook her head and held the plastic tray in front of him "in here, I'll get you some ice chips to start, a little water but as hungry as you might be feeling or as thirsty, too much too soon and you'll be using this again" she held up the basin for emphasis. Gil nodded, grateful just to have the damned tube out of his throat.

"Sa..." he started to say but his voice sounded like he'd swallowed an entire roll of sandpaper.

"Mr. Grissom, try to give your throat time to heal" she motioned for him to open wide then used a flashlight to confirm her suspicions "Yup, pretty red and raw down there, it's normal considering how quickly the tech had to intubate you and the fact that you were on the vent for a bit" she flipped off the light and tossed it into a pocket in her scrubs. "I'll get you some throat spray, it will numb it up pretty quickly though it taste like shit" she laughed while jotting notes in his chart. Gil looked at her questioningly as he tried to remember being intubated to start with. "Your fever was climbing rapidly" having been down this road before with other patients, she was filling in the blanks for him. "We tried an ice bath which might have been what shocked your heart into stopping, we'll never know for sure." it explained why his chest felt like he'd had hot irons put on it and when he peeked under the hospital gown he was now wearing, he saw several angry red marks on his chest. "You were given anti-convulsion medication just in case but from what I can tell, we'll know more with the scan and the MRI they have scheduled, there doesn't appear to be any permanent damage thank God!" they all smiled at that. "I'll let you two alone I'm sure before the night is up you'll have had your fill of doctors, tests and questions" she turned once more "It's good to have you back Mr. Grissom" she exited the room and Nick decided having witnessed everything from the side glass to give them time alone.

"Hey baby" she kissed him gently on the lips. They looked quite chapped and swollen from the tubes and tape that had held them in place. "We missed you" she hugged him and was rewarded with his arms wrapping around her and his eyes falling on her stomach. "Yeah, Marge and Homer were here with you the whole time." his eyes widened and he looked scared for her. "It's okay, I admit I was scared for a bit but the doctors knocked me out.." he chuckled imagining the time they must have had. "Oh, they lied, they told me it was just something to settle me down...yeah, my ass, it sent me to La La Land in no time but apparently, Nick was here to witness everything and it got pretty hairy for a bit." he concentrated on keeping his breathing even as he looked into her eyes. "Nick came because they wanted someone with me I couldn't ask Catherine, she has Lindsey and Warrick" Gil smiled knowing that the relationship was like his and Sara's, no longer a hush hush thing. "I couldn't see Greg being here either, too silly at times and we both know, since that beating...well he didn't need to deal with it, Nick was the obvious choice" he nodded in agreement.

"How...long?" he whispered.

"How long for what?" she thought she knew but she wanted to be sure. "How long were you...?" 'Gone' hung in the air. Neither wanted to give voice to something that had recently happened and Gil simply nodded.

"Just over two minutes, Nick watched the clock...he said they really had to work hard to get you back...were you planning on leaving me Bugman?" she wanted to tease him to get away from the sadness and fear she'd lived through but he shook his head and hugged her while rubbing her stomach with his bigger hand.

"Never...been there...done that...never...again!" he smiled at her then leaned forward and kissed where his hand had been. It wasn't easy considering what he'd been through but he made the effort none the less. "Now let's find out when I get to go home!" she glanced up and the look she threw said she definitely thought he had some screws loose.

"No way Bugman, they have a bundle of tests they have you scheduled for and you're not leaving here until every result says you're okay...I'm not taking you home until then and neither is anyone else!" she saw him pout and smiled, it definitely meant he was feeling better."

"Fine!" he wouldn't look at her but she could tell from the corners of his mouth that he was smiling.

"You big baby...I promise I'll wait on you hand and foot when you're better.." Gil's eyes shot up.

"The babies, what about the babies?" she looked at him. "You were exposed because of me, what about the babies?" his hand was back on her abdomen "If something happens to them..."

"Gil relax, I've been tested, they've been tested and we've had an extensive exam, they're fine and now that their Daddy seems to be doing better...we're all fine!" She kissed him like there was not tomorrow.


	52. Chapter 52

A/N: Don't ask me why I feel the need to make Ecklie 'human', I can't stand him on the show but for some reason maybe it's the Christmas season, I decided to make him personable and 'human'. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. Dad has qualified for the experimental surgery which will take place Jan 15. Thanks again for all the prayers, thoughts and well wishes, you've become family to me...I can't thank you enough for the reviews as well, they make me write even on days when my hands want a break...

It had been a long two weeks, Gil had to remain hospitalized receiving massive amounts of antibiotics intravenously, Sara had been discharged after the first week. She'd been allowed to stay thanks to some finagling by the doctor with her insurance company. She'd been reluctant to leave but the doctors assured her that Gil would get rest and be well cared for and she herself would need to be ready to help him when he got home.

"He'll be weak for a little while and I know he'll hate to depend on you but...I'm more than sure you're up to the task." his one nurse gave her a cursory look over and smiled. "Ya might be slim and slight but I think he has his hands full with you!" she winked meaning it as a compliment.

"He'll do what he's told though" she paused "he's going stir crazy not being able to go over cases with his team." she laughed "Do you think now that any danger of catching anything is over" she sighed "do you think it would be okay for his team members to visit now?" She knew that Gil was comfortable now with Nick being around, he'd made it his goal to keep his eye on both Gil and Sara but she was thinking that seeing Catherine or Warrick, Brass, Greg and even possibly Conrad might do more for his ever worsening attitude.

"I don't see why not, it certainly wouldn't hurt his mood" she laughed along with Sara as she went over the paperwork that she'd need when she got home. "I'll clear it with his Doctor and then we'll see how he is after that. Gil had passed all his tests with flying colors, no swelling or bleeding was evident in his brain, his last spinal tap came back clear and he was angrier than ever that due to the results, he couldn't see why he had to remain in the hospital when Sara could take just as good care of him, if not better at home.

"Gil" his regular Doctor had returned and after consultation with Dr. Brebach had taken over his case. "You and I both know that Sara would sooner run herself into the ground waiting on you, hand and foot" he waited for Gil to acknowledge the fact. "She needs her rest, she's walking around with two very important lives inside her and you don't want her wearing herself out." Grissom couldn't do more than admit that the doctor was right, if it meant having to stay then he'd stay just to spare Sara any further concern.

When the day came to release him, his entire team said they'd be there, Ecklie got there before the rest of them. Grissom was convinced that someone had kidnapped the real one and had transplanted some android in his place.

"Can I ask you a question without seeming ungrateful or ... rude?" Gil was being social or the first time in a long time knowing that the only thing standing between him and the door was a simple signature from his doctor. Ecklie rocked on the balls of his feet, hands shoved deep in his pockets and nodded.

"Why? Why are you being so nice and supportive now?" Gil knew that in the past, his worst enemy had been Conrad Ecklie. He'd wanted Sara fired and when Gil refused, he'd gone out of his way to make Grissom's life miserable in the lab. Gil had simply adapted to the mood around the building and worked twice as hard to prove that Conrad was completely wrong about Sara. He'd jumped on the chance to find a reason to split up the team, relishing the fact that an apparent error had been made during the gathering and logging of evidence and he acted like it was a personal affront when Gil admitted on the stand that the evidence in front of him wasn't the complete evidence he'd cataloged at the time. Gil had been found innocent in any wrong doing by none other than Sofia Curtis but instead of letting the matter drop, Ecklie had split the team, put Catherine as Supervisor, on a shift she hadn't asked for and demoted Sofia in retaliation for not siding with him. The past was pretty bleak when you compared the relationship.

"You know Gil, coming from someone else, I might be insulted but given our past I can understand where you're coming from." he leaned against a counter and Gil smiled.

"You're welcome to have a seat, it will be another hour before I'm out of here" he motioned to the empty seat across from his bed.

"I never realized just how much Sara meant to the lab before, the morale certainly dropped when she was gone." he sat down and sighed "But I watched what losing her did to you...you probably aren't aware of it but I almost lost my wife awhile back" Gil looked up stunned at the revaluation. "First it was because of stupidity, I cheated on her, convinced myself I'd get away with it...and then I thought she wouldn't notice because of all the hours I spent at the lab but she caught on, followed me to the girl's house and confronted me." he blushed at the admission. "She gave me a last chance and I promised to straighten out which I did with the exception of my hours...I thought I had all the time in the world..." he closed his eyes and sighed. "She has breast cancer Gil, I may wind up losing the very thing that makes me who I am" the tears in his eyes threw Grissom for a loop. "I woke up the first morning she was in the hospital without her beside me and I didn't like the feeling, it was the same day Sara left you...and I could only imagine what it must have been like to love someone so much and not be able to tell anyone" he reached for a cup of water that was sitting beside the bed "You don't mind do you?" Gil handed him the cup and shook his head.

"I'm sorry you're going through this Conrad and tell your wife that our best thoughts are with her." he was at a loss to add much more. "It's strange isn't it?" Conrad wiped away the tears in his eyes. "You never imagine loving someone so much that you don't know where you stop and they start." it was the fullest admission to feelings Ecklie had ever heard from Grissom.

"All I can tell you is, don't waste another day Gil, grab life by the horns and ride it for all it's worth because as you know, you wake up tomorrow thinking that you have all the time in the world and suddenly you get this wicked slap in the face." he sat forward, hands dropped between splayed knees. "You ever think about leaving CSI?" Grissom wondered even more what had happened to the real Conrad.

"I can't say the idea hasn't crossed my mind a time or two." He reached for the bag that held his clothes. "If Sara wanted me to, I could do it" it was strange to realize that now. Years before if someone had asked him to weigh the importance of his job vs. his feelings for Sara, he would have feared that the job defined who and what he was and without it he would be nothing. Today the feeling was, after having experienced it firsthand very different. The job no longer defined him, it no longer held the hows and whys of his life that had been taken over by his all consuming love of Sara. She was and he hoped for a long time would continue to be his everything...He knew what it was to wake in her arms, to go to sleep with her spooned against him after a night of languid lovemaking and he knew how much it hurt to wake up with only a pillow and a worn t-shirt as your companion., it was something he never wanted to experience again.

"You really do love her." said more as a statement then a question and Gil simply nodded and smiled. The smile said it all.

"I really do, it scared the hell out of me to admit it to myself let alone anyone else." he sat back "there was a time when I didn't think I was capable of loving someone so completely but then I guess the truth was I didn't feel worthy of having someone like Sara love me."

"She must be pretty damned special Gil, you were willing to risk your entire career on her!" the comment was said with a certain degree of admiration. "I wish I had the balls to do something like that...well, I did, you've probably heard the rumors about how me and my wife met." he wasn't asking Gil to confirm or deny. "She was worth it to..." he smiled.

"Can I ask you a question?" Gil wasn't one to usually pry but being that his relationship with Sara often times put him on unfamiliar ground, he wanted to avoid the usual pitfalls of life. When Conrad nodded, he continued. "You said you cheated on her." He nodded yet again. "Why?" Gil honestly couldn't find a reason why people did that to each other but then again, having never been the type to fall in love easily, he wasn't sure why you would give your heart to one and your body to another, his ideal was the entire package.

"She was a challenge" the answer was that simple. "She had an attitude and air about her that said she was 'untouchable' but for some stupid reason, I decided to play the game and see how far it went...too far" he huffed out a breath. "She was doing the same with me, I was part of a bet 'see if you can get Ecklie in bed' I fell for it, hook, line and sinker. When it was all said and done, she told me she actually had feelings, I went to he house that night,the night my wife followed me, to tell her it had all been a mistake and I couldn't do it anymore. Isabelle beat me to it, apparently she had met the girl outside of work and told her to back off, she didn't want to relinquish her 'challenge' and told my wife she'd back off ONLY if she heard it from me...I went back and told her it was over and never went back."


	53. Chapter 53

A/N: I felt after watching Living and Deal Doll that it was time for a little fluff...so here ya go...Enjoy!!!

"Where's Grissom?" Nick was the first to enter.

"Good morning to you to Stokes" he was feeling better after their lengthy conversation and wasn't about to let anyone spoil the mood.

"Sorry, Hey!" he waved then entered followed closely by Catherine, Warrick and Greg. "We came to drive him home." he motioned to the team behind him.

"Where's Sara? She's okay right?" Grissom came out of the bathroom in his hospital room buttoning the last button on the blue shirt that Sara had picked for him to wear home.

"She's fine, she's at the house getting a few last minute things together." Catherine assured him. "You look good, but you look like you could use a few home cooked meals." she lightly touched his stomach which was flatter than when he first came in.

"Or a good batch of take out!" Brass added as he walked in the door. "Hey Ecklie how's it going?" he wondered what could be important enough to drag the Director down to the hospital.

"Find Jim, going fine, came down to see how Grissom was doing now that he's getting released." was all he was willing to offer any of them. He exchanged glances with Gil who quietly nodded letting him know in no uncertain terms that what they'd discussed would remain between them and only them.

"Well, it's good to see you vertical buddy" Jim clapped him on the shoulder "You had us worried there for awhile!" the entire team nodded in agreement.

"I guess it wasn't my day to die...right Nicky?" he smiled at the younger man knowing that they now shared a very intimate moment where one life hung in the balance, only this time instead of it being Nick's, the tables had been turned and it was Grissom that almost lost the fight. Nick nodded knowing that Sara must have told him about the Cassie case and how Nick was the only one who refused to give up, his attitude was it was always a rescue mission, not a recovery one.

"Yup, someone was looking out for you...but listen, if you EVER scare me like that again...well..." he turned away, his cheeks slightly red from blushing "I'm stealing your wife!" he laughed at the look on Grissom's face and totally missed the disapproving one on Ecklie's.

"In your dreams Nicky, I'll beat you to it!" Greg teased and then walked over to Grissom. "It's good to have you back..." he looked like he wanted to hug the older man but then simply stuck his hand out and offered a handshake instead. "It's really good to have you both back." no one needed to ask him who he was referring to, they knew Sara was included in the sentiment.

"Thanks, everyone...for worrying about me, for taking such good care of Sara and for holding up the lab while I was gone, I know with Sara and I both being gone it couldn't have been easy but, it's appreciated that you all pitched in and worked the doubles and triples, I'm sure it will show on your next checks." he looked at Ecklie who scrunched his face then nodded in agreement. "How about we get out of here and you're all invited to come over for breakfast?" he was happy to be leaving the hospital. While they'd taken excellent care of him, he hadn't slept well on their beds and he missed his wife over the last week. It had been bad enough to sleep alone when she was gone, but knowing she was home alone, probably worrying about him was excruciating to him.

They all agreed and Gil smiled "If you don't mind, Conrad and I have some unfinished business, I'll let him drive me and meet you all at home in say, an hour or two?" They nodded and quietly left the room taking all of his belongings with them.

"Gil, thanks for not saying..." Gil held up his hand.

"No thanks necessary Conrad, I don't think what you shared with me is open for office fodder. Thanks for everything you did while Sara was gone, I know her leaving was unexpected but I wanted to thank you for keeping her on the books like you did." he knew that her paychecks had continued to be deposited in her checking account even after her unorthodox departure.

"I wanted to leave our options open when she came back." he smiled then stood up. "Shall we, I think there's a certain woman eager to have her husband back?" he motioned to the door. The nurse came in with a wheelchair and the rest of the paperwork that released him back to civilization.

"I don't need that!" he pointed to the chair.

"It's procedure sir, I have to wheel you out" she apologized but wouldn't back down. "You either ride or stay!" she held the papers just out of his reach. Gil sighed with mild frustration and simply rose then sat down in the wheelchair and waited for her to disengage the wheel brakes before heading out the door.

"Thanks!" he mumbled as Ecklie cracked up laughing. "What the hell is so funny?" he shot him a glance.

"You, in a wheelchair...pissed off cause they won't let you walk out of here" he chuckled between words and continued. "I never thought I'd see the day that Grandpa Grissom ... "he got another glare from Gil. "Had to be pushed down the hall...we're getting old!" he laughed again and this time Gil joined him.

"Don't remind me..." he didn't finish. For the longest time, the age difference between himself and Sara had been a sore spot, not from her perspective but his. He often thought about what others would think behind their backs about the older man, younger woman. Sara had assured him many times over that she wasn't the least bit concerned. She loved him, no matter what and would until the day they died. It took a lot of work before he finally came around to her way of thinking and gladdy took her hand wherever they walked now. He no longer cared about other people's thoughts and concerns with his relationship. Sara was his and his alone and that was what made it all the more special.

Back at the house, Sara had taken a shower, made the bed, fed Bruno and put out some things that they might munch on. Catherine had when she first returned home, asked her, actually made her vow not to go into the two rooms that were going to be the babies bedrooms.

"Just promise me you'll stay out until Gil gets home, it's kind of a surprise and I want you both to be there!" she just about twisted her arm when Sara decided to play coy and not promise.

"They're rooms in my house!" she argued lightheartedly. "I'm being banned from going into my own rooms in my own home?" Catherine and Warrick both nodded.

"Give us your word!" he pressed the issue, "It's only a week and then you can go wherever you please just leave the two doors shut until Gil comes home!" she finally relented, gave her word and a scouts honor even though everyone knew she hadn't ever been a scout.

"Fine...I swear" she held up her hand and pledged...Catherine and Warrick cracked up laughing knowing that the suspense would drive her nuts but Sara was true to her word, once given she would not go back on a promise no matter how much curiosity bugged her to do so.

When Gil walked through the door, it didn't even occur to Sara to see who he was with, she ran to him, gently threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately then took his hands and placed them on her belly where one or both of the babies were doing flip flops. "Homer and Marge missed their Daddy" she kissed him again then looked over his shoulder as he embraced her and saw Conrad "Oh...oh my God...Sorry Conrad I didn't see you there...thanks for bringing Gil home!" she reached out to take his hand while he reached out to hug her...they embraced awkwardly.

"No problem, it gave us a chance to talk."

"Can I get you anything? Coffee, tea, beer...water...we have diet and regular soda..." he shook his head.

"Coffee would be fine if anyone else is joining me." Gil smiled enthusiastically, he hadn't had a good cup of coffee in two weeks and he was missing Greg's blend.

"Too bad we don't have..." Sara held up a bag of Blue Hawaiian as he started.

"Compliments of Greg...said you shouldn't come home without the proper beverage...it will be ready in about five minutes. Where's the rest of the team?" Just then they all walked in and several of them greeted Bruno who had finally let himself in the doggie door and came to see who was in his house. When he spotted Grissom his tail wagged enthusiastically and whipped against Greg's legs...

"Shit that thing hurts!" he rubbed the spot that he'd just been assaulted on.

"Yeah...tell me about it., try not to let him get to close to private parts...it's worse than any whip you could..." he started to blush when he realized that everyone was looking at him with quirked brows. "Ugh...never mind, just be careful." he walked away and headed into the kitchen with the dog glued to his side. "Daddy's home Bruno...come on let's get you some Goobies., I know Mommy" he glanced back at Sara and smiled "doesn't let you have them like Daddy does." he crooned to the Boxer who danced around his feet.

"I'm thinking brain damage" Brass looked at Ecklie who shrugged "I never in my wildest dreams imagined Grissom calling himself Daddy to a dog" he continued to chuckle.

"I never imagined Grissom being anyone's Daddy" Greg added. "Just didn't picture him as being affectionate..." he looked at Sara and smiled.

"Oh he's affectionate!" Sara rubbed her belly. "And more so..." everyone held up their hands like she was tossing out Holy Water...in a room full of vampires.

"Ewwww...Too Much Info woman!" Catherine shook her head...

"I just got those pictures out of my head!" Greg covered his eyes and fled the room.

"Hey, what can I say? He's a sexy..." Conrad held up his hand and shook his head.

"Could I get a cup of that coffee without the pictures Sara?" he winked at her and for a moment, Sara stood with her mouth open.

"Ugh...yeah...um...sure...right this way." she motioned to the kitchen where Grissom had gone to moments before. When they got there, Gil had laid out all kinds of things to make omelets.

"I hope everyone's hungry?" He motioned for everyone to put what they wanted on their plates.

"Hey, you just got released from the hospital buddy." Nick was concerned that he would try to do to much too soon.

"You want Sara took cook omelets for you?" he looked at her and shrugged not wanting to hurt her feelings.

"No!" came the unison voices of everyone in the room. "Not Sara..." they all started laughing except for Sara who decided to play the part and pouted. Gil made everyone's omelet to order including Ecklie who said it was the best he'd ever tasted. He was actually enjoying the camaraderie in the room and could clearly see what made this team so cohesive. Gil didn't even have to ask Sara what she wanted and everyone noticed that he didn't take any meat in his omelet just like her.

After the dishes were loaded into the dishwasher, Warrick nudged Catherine and whispered something in her ear.

"We'd like to show you both something, I hope you like it..." Catherine motioned for them to follow her and led the way upstairs to the two bedrooms. "We all got together while you were both in the hospital and wanted to surprise you with something...we took a little liberty here and I just want you to be honest., if you don't like it...please, we can change anything you don't like...but just be honest..." her voice was pleading and Gil and Sara looked at each other. Catherine threw open the first door of the jack-n-jill bedrooms and Sara's mouth dropped open. The walls were painted a soft pale green with wanes coating in white as the bottom, the wall paper border and curtains on the window along with the crib set were yellow with dragonflies, spiders and various other little insects but the room was definitely male. There was a glider in the corner and the crib, dressing table and dressers were a light oak with brass bugs for drawer pulls. There was a small light on the dresser nearest the crib and it was also in keeping with the insect theme.

"Oh my God Catherine it's beautiful..." Catherine hugged her.

"It's perfect Cat" Gil joined in and kissed her head. "It's just what Sara and I talked about..." they both nodded. They knew that Catherine probably had the material on the bedding, drapes and the lampshade custom made but it all was too perfect for words.

"Thanks Guys., I was worried...let's go see the other room. They went into the second bedroom which was done in pale yellow, Lady Bugs and Butterflies were everywhere on the walls, curtains and bedding, things around the room were definitely feminine and like the boys room, there was a rocker/glider in the corner but the crib and furniture were white instead of oak. "I wanted them to have something different, the beds shift into twin beds when they're old enough to be out of cribs." she was astonished when Gil hugged her again and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"I can't thank you enough Catherine" he looked around "All of you, we could never thank you enough for everything.' Conrad came forward and handed them a card.

"It's a little something for the kids" he blushed slightly and backed up. Gil knew he wouldn't want them to open it with everyone there and tucked it into his pocket.

"Everyone...thank you all...so very much...it's been ..." Gil couldn't find the words to finish so Sara stepped up and wrapped her arms around her husband.

"Overwhelming..." she answered for him. "But it's been so much more than we could ever imagine...when I left, I didn't realize that the family I thought I was missing was right here, in this room...every one of you" she smiled at Conrad. Just as she was about to say more the doorbell rang and when Gil came back Al and his wife had joined them.

"Well now the complete family is here..." he laughed.

"No, Archie, Bobby, Wendy and Mandy are missing" Greg added enthusiastically.

"What about Hodges?" Sara teased but she had a certain fondness knowing that David had worked just as hard to find her as the rest of the team.

"We'll have to have a party and have everyone over" they all agreed.

"Well" Conrad stretched. "Considering that Gil just got release, he's made us all breakfast and cleaned up...I would like to take the time to thank you and then bid you both adieu...shift starts shortly and you know I have to get back to being the nasty taskmaster!" he smiled, shook Gil's hand and kissed Sara on the cheek then bid them goodbye. Everyone else took the hint and Al and his Wife Meridith were the last to leave, they'd brought baby gifts for the kids and a gift certificate for not only free babysitting but for dinner at one of the swankiest new restaurants in town.


	54. Chapter 54

Christmas was fast approaching and Gil wanted this one to be especially good for Sara. While it wasn't their first together, this one held promises that the last few did not. Sara had vanquished her demons, was carrying their two children and Gil had much to be thankful for. He called Catherine and asked her what she thought about a family get together for the holidays.

"I'm all for it, I only have Lindsey and my Mom, did you get a Christmas tree yet?" She knew that Gil was often times the worlds greatest procrastinator and living in Las Vegas, if you didn't grab up a tree right away, you might as well be planning a 'Charlie Brown Christmas' because a stick and a stand would be all you wound up with.

"I did, believe it or not, I got it at Winchell's Tree Lot, they're delivering it today. Ecklie told Sara he needed her to help him set up a room for the 'ones that go away' files and the cold cases. She was eager to get out of the house after being cooped up so long." he chuckled at how excited she'd been when the phone call came in.

"You'll be okay right?" Gil was nearing the end of his medical leave due to his bout of Meningitis. "If you don't want me to I won't go?" but the look on her face was priceless.

"No, you go ahead I'll miss you" he kissed her lightly on her lips happy to have her excited about working. "I'll find something to keep myself busy around here, maybe I'll take Bruno for a walk, it's been awhile." Since her multiple pregnancy, the doctors told her she could continue walking each day but running was out and to take care so that the dog didn't pull her over in his exuberance to go after squirrels as he'd been known to do. She grabbed her purse and was out the door an hour later. Gil waited until she had a head start and then headed to finish his Christmas shopping.

The mall was crowded as he supposed it would be but it felt good to be on an errand for his wife. The first stop was the jewelery store that Catherine had recommended., she'd dropped off a picture of the ultrasound and the owner had it etched in laser on a pendant that would later be able to be added to a charm bracelet but Gil had it put on a chain so she could wear her children near her heart. While he was there he picked out a pair of Ruby earrings for Catherine knowing her penchant for the red stone. For Greg he had ordered tickets to the upcoming Marilyn Manson concert only to find that they'd been sold out. With Catherine's connections, she managed to not only get the tickets but front row and backstage passes with the promise that he didn't tell Greg where or how he'd gotten them.

"I sure and hell don't want him bothering me about tickets every time some weirdo he wants to see is sold out." Gil gave her a hug and asked what he owed, she refused to take payment.

For Warrick, he got dinner reservations and a hotel room for the weekend at the Wynne and hoped that he would use it to either get his head together from his recent divorce or to finally hook up with Catherine. He wasn't as slow as some believed when it came to things going on around him.

Jim got a bottle of some very old Cognac and a case of cigars. Not many knew that he was a closet cigar smoker but Gil did and was usually the one that supplied his habit.

Nicky was getting two airline tickets home and an additional week off from the one he requested. He also knew that Nick and Mandy had hooked up and thought it would be nice to let them get away and possibly have her introduced to Nick's huge family over the holidays. When he'd found out that Mandy didn't have family in town, he decided that he would include her in Nick's gift.

Archie was given the latest Bose sound system and Hodges was given new equipment for the lab he had set up at home. It felt strange including some of the members of the lab as family but it also felt good to realize what Catherine had told him years ago, 'The lab is making a family around you whether you like it or not!" she'd been right and after his relationship with Sara, who was he to say what was right or wrong. Lead by example wasn't a strong suit when it came to her. Wendy had wanted an I pod as long as he could remember, this year her wish would come true

They were all invited to his house for Christmas dinner, Sara wasn't aware of it as it was also, thanks to Catherine going to be a baby shower for her as well. Catherine wanted to handle all of the food arrangements, Wendy and Mandy were handling decorating and the guys were in charge of keeping Sara occupied until it was time for her to come home. Ecklie was involved as well, it was his job to make sure she absolutely had to come into the office on Christmas because of some discrepancy in a report that she'd handed in. All Gil could hope now was that the criminals would take a break and let his team get together. Little did he know, Ecklie had a discussion with the Under Sheriff and Mayor and asked as a personal favor that the Day and Swing would cover for them and in the future they would do the same.

"I just want this to be perfect, Gil and Sara have been through so much and I think it's awesome that the entire Grave team and lab wants to get together for the Holidays." The Under Sheriff was quickly thinking that Ecklie had caught something from Gil and the Mayor would have seconded that except he was one to ask out loud.

"What gives Conrad?" he sat behind his desk, leaning back heavily in his leather chair, hands folded on his lap. "I for one know that you've never been a fond lover of either Grissom or his wife." Ecklie nodded but weighed his words carefully.

"Time changes people Mayor, maybe I just got bit by the Christmas bug" he wasn't offering more than that. He didn't feel a need to explain himself to a man that prejudged everything and everyone. "I would look at it as a personal favor though, and I think over the past, the city '_meaning you_' owes me a little leeway. The Mayor agreed, shook his hand and dismissed him, all the while wondering what exactly might have happened to get his head out of his ass.

The tree came, big and beautiful, it took up the entire front window of their new home. Everyone stopped in and helped put the lights and decorations on it. They combined the meager few that Sara had from her apartment, the ones that Grissom had from his Mother and everyone else donated some from their own lives.

"This is so cool!" Mandy stood beside Nick and struggled to hang a handmade bow. Nick took it gently from her hand and put it where she directed then turned and kissed her. "That's way better" she pulled away and caught Grissom staring at them. "Sorry Mr. Grissom.." she blushed slightly but Nick stood there looking very pleased with himself hands till on her hips.

"It's Gil or Grissom outside of work Mandy, we're not formal here." he smiled then offered them something to drink. Mandy was stunned, no one was used to this Grissom and it would take some time to adjust. "Congrats on the two of you getting together." she wasn't sure how to take it, knowing that there had been problems with his own relationship, she was afraid they might frown on her and Nick's but apparently he was okay with it. Nick had told her that as long as they remained professional within the confines of the lab, there wasn't going to be a problem, this just confirmed it for her.

Warrick and Catherine stopped by to help decorate the rest of the house and Greg came with Hodges and Wendy to move tables and set up the Dining Room that until now had remained empty.

"Ugh, Catherine!" Gil motioned her over as movers started unpacking a huge dining room table and chairs that matched along with a buffet for china and a serving side table. "This isn't our furniture!" he pointed to the growing pile of cardboard. She smiled, nodded and started to walk away letting the movers finish but Gil reached out and grabbed her arm. "What did you do?" he tried hard to look upset. 

"I happened to be with Sara when she was admiring this set, she said she'd have to wait for it...and I thought it would be a perfect wedding present since SOMEONE didn't tell us when they were getting married!" she shot him a dirty look. He simply shrugged and smiled.

"Blame my wife" easier to always blame the woman when she wasn't there to defend herself..."But honestly Catherine, this is way too much" he looked around and saw two guys carrying in a rolled area rug. "What the hell?" he was quickly moving to being seriously upset. "Catherine, you have to stop...you can't buy everything someone points at" she laughed and pulled free of him.

"I can if I want to and there is nothing you or anyone else can do to stop me" she laughed again, an evil cackle that would have been great if she were cast in the Wizard of Oz. The room was set up, the furniture polished to a gleaming shine and truth be told, Sara's taste complimented the room perfectly, the rug had been an item that Catherine had decide on herself and the abstract designs worked perfectly with the design in the wood on the chair backs.

"Perfect, now for the China...you do have china right?" Catherine stood there waiting for an answer.

"My Mom had China I think it's in the basement" he took Greg and returned with the settings. Catherine, Mandy and Wendy busied themselves washing and drying the beautifully patterned dishes and the exquisite glassware.

"This is beautiful Gil, now you'll be able to put it in the buffet and display it when you're not using it." she wasn't really waiting on an answer but his silence was unnerving. "Gil are you okay?" he was standing with a piece of stemware twisting and turning it, watching the light refractions shimmer off the floor, ceiling and walls. "Gil...Grissom are you okay?" he looked up and she saw tears in his eyes.

"I wish my Mom was here to see that I finally found the woman of my dreams, that she would be having not only one but two grandchildren" Catherine wiped her hands on a towel and came over. "She would have loved this house and my friends" he looked around at everyone who were busy moving around the house doing various chores that Catherine had assigned them.

"She knew about Sara right?" He nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"She knew...when I came to visit after teaching the seminar where we met..."He paused with a smile on his face. "She said she had a feeling that Sara was the one..." I asked her why and she said "You never came home talking about a girl so much" She was right Cath, she...Sara was just something else...she was beautiful, sassy, intelligent...a smart ass when she needed to be...not easily impressed with titles and awards..." he smiled again. "My Mom would have loved her...she was the only one that managed to get her little boy to settle down." He laughed "When I told her that I was too old for Sara she slapped me, I was sitting at the table listing all the reasons not to get together with her, not to call her to come to Vegas and I decided my Mom could help me see the light...oh I saw the light that day, that woman slugged me so hard I swear I saw stars, never saw it coming." he looked downright shocked.

"Gil, whether you believe it or not, your Mom, my Father...they're here...they're the memories of Christmas past and they help us make the memories to come." she hugged him and he returned the gesture then wiped away the tears.

"You're right...and this year, I have so much more to be thankful for..." he looked up and saw picture on the wall of Sara and pictures of himself, the team...all taken without them knowing it, they were beautifully done in black and white and caught people in the most descriptive moments. Sara reading over a report with Gil beside her, he wondered why he couldn't recall anyone having taken the pictures but leave it up to Catherine. Bobbie Dawson was closely examining a bullet while explaining to Sara the differences in Striations. Greg, Warrick and Nick sitting around sharing a bowl of popcorn and one of Nick and Warrick playing with their play station. Nick was jumping up and down and Warrick had one hand raised in triumph, their faces said it all. Hodges was there, seeming to be following Wendy and there was one of Nick and Mandy working on some evidence. There was one of Catherine joking with Sara and Gil felt a breath caught in his throat remembering her laughter that day. Then there was one that no one was supposed to see, it was two people walking out of the lab, the man had his hand possessively wrapped around the waist of the woman, her head resting on his shoulder...and the title said "Together at Last". It was the center photo of the collage that had been added to the wall while he and Catherine had been talking.

"So, how do you like them?" she smiled warmly leaning against him.

"Catherine, they're beautiful...when? how? where?" he was astounded that he never realized people were in the lab taking pictures.

"Never you mind...just enjoy" she kissed him then said "We best get our butts out of here and get dressed, we'll be back at 5 pm, Conrad will make sure that Sara doesn't get out before that. She gathered the troops after making sure each of their tasks had been completed to her specifications and then bid Gil a farewell and they slipped out the door. Bruno came walking in from the kitchen looking less than pleased. Around his collar was a bow tie but tacked to the back so they fell perfectly were a set of felt antlers.

"Oh Bruno, Aunt Catherine wasn't going to let you go undecorated...just be glad, it means you're invited tonight." he patted the dog and then headed upstairs to take a bath and change.


	55. Chapter 55

"Come on Ecklie!" her voice was getting higher "Even you can't be this heartless!" she was going over several reports he'd tossed on Gil's desk and told her that she needed to straighten them out, there was a discrepancy on two of them...but neglected to point out exactly what only saying that they needed to be finished and on his desk before she left. It was nearly 5 pm, she knew that Gil had wanted to go out for dinner and suddenly, here she was, stuck in the office doing more work.

"Gil, it's Sara" she went right to voice mail. "I'm sorry Honey, I really thought I'd be home hours ago but Ecklie dropped off a couple folders and I have to find out what's wrong with my notes though I've been through them 4 times each and I cannot find a single thing wrong!" she sounded exasperated about the entire thing. "I'll call you before I leave, hopefully those dinner reservations can be moved to a little later" she crossed her fingers hoping he wouldn't be mad. It was Christmas for God sake and she seemed to be the only one from Grave stills stuck in the lab.

When Gil played the message for his guests, they all laughed. "She's going to be so pissed off at me" Ecklie smiled as he picked up a glass and ladle pouring himself and Mandy a glass of nog. "Gil you should have seen her face when I said they 'Must be on my desk tonight come hell or high water!' he recreated the scene. "She thinks I didn't hear her call me a heartless bastard but tonight, I'll let it slide...I can't wait to see her face!" he downed the first cup and went for a second.

"Thanks for getting yourself on her shit list...I owe you one!" Gil toasted him and moved through the throng of people crowded in his house. "I'll call her just as soon as Catherine and Warrick get her and tell her to go ahead and blow them off, I'll cover for her" he laughed knowing that it was the only way that Sara would willingly give up on the challenge to find a mistake with her work.

Catherine and Warrick arrived hand in hand. Catherine had a champagne dress that was cut in a handkerchief cut around her knees and hugged her bodice just right. She had her hair was pulled up and tendrils curled around her face. She looked lovely. Lindsey was wearing a blue dress that hugged her changing teen age curves without being too suggestive. Warrick wore a black suit with fine pinstripes and his shirt of a soft green played well against Catherine's dress. Her mother wore a simple black pantsuit with a red satin blouse and had her hair done as well. "Sorry we're a little late, have the flowers gotten here?" she handed Warrick her coat as she slid out of it.

"Flowers?" Gil looked like he wanted to say more but bit his tongue and shook his head. Right on cue the doorbell rang and Catherine turned to open the front door.

"Hello, yes this is the Grissom house. She stood back as three men wiped their feet then proceeded to carry in poinsettia plants and Christmas flowers. Before they left, the rooms had been transformed into a Winter wonderland and Gil was awestruck that all his friends had gone all out to make this day special...then there were pink and blue balloons and flowers that were put in the area designated as the baby shower area. Gil decided to play it safe, gathered up all the things Catherine said Sara would need to dress up for the festivities and headed out to the lab to rescue her. He was already adorned in a beautiful black suit complete with a red silk shirt with matching kerchief tucked in his breast pocket. Gently loading her gown into the Denali, he bid his friends goodbye and headed to the lab...

He found her, in a foul mood and cussing like a sailor inside his office.

"This sorry excuse of a Director wouldn't know proper dictation and evidence collection if it jumped up and bit him in his balding ass...that Son of a Bitch just finds excuses to ruin a holiday spirit...it's Christmas for God sake and where am I? I'm stuck here going over something so stupid...could have pointed out where he thought I..."

Gil stood in the doorway, she'd obviously not heard the door open nor saw her husband standing there, suit and polished shooks with her dress hooked on his finger over his shoulder. "Hey beautiful...I came to rescue you..." he smiled and saw her face light up.

"If only, Ecklie wants this done before I go and honestly Gil, I've been over them dozens of times, I don't find a single discrepancy..I don't know what that idiot thinks but..." Gil held up his hand.

"Put it away, I'll talk to Conrad when I see him...it's Christmas, I brought your dress so you could change here, and your make up and curling iron...and fresh towels and underwear and..." she ran over and kissed him before he could say more.

"How'd I get so lucky?" she reached to take her things from him and with a final kiss disappeared toward the woman's showers. Gil sat down and closed out the reports he knew to be a ruse to keep her in the lab. There would be hell to pay later but it would be worth it tonight.

When she came out of the washroom, she was stunning. The gown was a red that matched his shirt perfectly, it was strapless and the upper portion was a sequined bodice with a beautiful bunch of layered chiffon that took his breath away.

"You look..." his open mouth and wide eyes said everything his mouth couldn't and she kissed him lightly not to leave any of the red lipstick she'd put on her pouty mouth.

"Shall we?" she reached for his arm and he took it, before he led her out the door, he wrapped a handmade shawl around her shoulder that matched the dress, when he had seen her gown originally, he'd asked Catherine to find the shawl or have it made, it wasn't a waste of money. The shoes one her feet were made to match her dress as well and he just smiled at the entire ensemble.

"You are tall!" he laughed as he wrapped a protective arm around her and led her out to the waiting Denali.

They drove home refusing to talk about office work, she was thrilled to tell him that she had actually enjoyed coming in but the minute the conversation turned to Ecklie, he'd quickly changed the subject and told her they were out for an evening of celebrating. He pulled over to the side of the road and smiled. "Do you trust me?" she sat there with her mouth open.

"Of course I do Gil...why would you ask that question?" she wondered what brought this on.

"I have a surprise for you" she thought it was dinner but sat there waiting for him to continue. He pulled out a red blindfold and smiled. "I hope you don't mind but..." she smiled and nodded slightly then waited for him to tie it around her head, he was extremely careful not to mess the beautiful hairdo she'd fixed for herself.

"I thought we were going out for dinner?" she sat back, hands folded demurely in her lap.

"We are having dinner but I wanted this to be perfect ... so I took a couple liberties and I hope you enjoy yourself this evening." he reached out and squeezed her hand gently.

"O...okay..." she sounded unsure of herself but knew she trusted him implicitly.

They drove and Gil purposely made several false turns to throw her off course. "Sorry it's taking longer to get there but...traffic is a little heavy and everyone must be out celebrating" he smiled and made yet another turn approaching their house from the opposite direction.

"Gee Gil, did they move this restaurant out of town?" she was beginning to wonder just where the heck he was taking her.

"It's a bit of a drive but my Darling, I think you'll find it was well worth the trip" he pulled up to the sidewalk knowing he couldn't pull into the garage or she'd catch on. He parked then hurried to her side and opened the door. Taking her hand in his, he guided her up the stairs and into the door where Greg was standing waiting and in his best voice added.

"Velcome to Chez Louise...may I take your coats?" He realized that he slipped up when he saw no coat on Gil and then smiled "May I take zee ladeez wrap pleazzzzz?" he delicately removed it from her shoulders and stepped away. Gil had to check himself to keep from laughing and could tell by the wrinkled brow that Sara was trying to figure out where they were.

"Just a few more steps my Dear and we'll be properly seated" he held her arm while everyone gathered at the doorway. Slowly he removed her blindfold and it took a minute for her eyes to adjust...there were all their friends, gathered in her living room, the tree was aglow with colored lights, fragrant flowers filled each room and everyone including Conrad Ecklie stood staring at her before they yelled. 

"Surprise!" Sara's mouth fell open as she looked around and then up to her husband.

"You did this?" He nodded "For me?" he smiled and nodded again. "This is all for me? You arranged this...just for me?" she couldn't get over it, no one had ever done anything remotely like this...even on a smaller scale, Christmas had always been a dismal reminder of a life less ordinary. Gil put his hand around her shoulder.

"I did this for my wife, but I did not do this alone...Everyone in this room had a hand in each and every part of this celebration..." she stood stunned into silence. "Catherine and Warrick, Lindsey...Mandy and Nick...Greg, David and Wendy...Conrad...oh and don't be mad at him, I asked him to find a way to keep you in the lab today...so if you're angry, you can deal with me later" he wiggled his eyebrows at her and quirked his usual smile.

Sara turned to her boss and smiled "I knew damned well there wasn't anything wrong with my reports!" but then she wrapped her arms around him and smiled then planted a kiss on his cheek. Al and his wife had picked up Conrad's wife after checking that she might feel like celebrating and they came in right behind Gil and Sara...

"Merry Christmas you two" Al's wife hugged them both then handed over a bottle of wine and some packages wrapped in red ribbons. When Gil went to take the bag she was carrying, she shook her head slightly not wanting him to spoil the second part of the surprise. "Oh, I"ll just keep these with me for a bit...just in case I need them" she held the package tightly. Sara returned the hug then made her rounds with everyone gathered. Catherine pulled her into a hug and asked her if she'd help her in the dining room. When Sara walked in she just about collapsed.

"Oh God, Catherine this is the set...the dining room set you and I looked at...and the rug, it's exquisite...but how?" Catherine simply smiled and handed her a card. "I wanted this Christmas to be especially good for both of you...consider it a Christmas and Wedding present from your sister" she kissed Sara's cheek, Warrick hugged her and Lindsey was dancing around waiting for her turn.

"May I?" she wanted to touch Sara's belly so badly but knew it was bad manners to simply do so. Sara turned and hugged her.

"Well of course you can, you'd better get acquainted with your niece and nephew cause you get to be their babysitter if you want the job." Lindsey looked back at Catherine who nodded then she laid her hands on Sara's belly and felt the babies move. Her smile could have lit up the room.

"This is so awesome..." she looked at Sara who looked about to cry from sheer happiness.

"Merry Christmas Honey!" Gil kissed her passionately in front of everyone and heard them all clap.


	56. Chapter 56

A/N Thanks for the continuing support of this story, I'm not done yet but may be close...anyway I wish to thank you all for the wonderful reviews., wish all of you a Healthy and Happy New Year...and say you've all been my inspiration...

Disclaimer: Hey...you want them, you know where to find them...at a price (laughing hysterically)...but Billy is NOT for sale...he's mine mine mine!!!!!

Gil wasn't done, not only had he made sure that everyone from Grave was at the house, but he had personally chosen tasks that ensured they each had a hand in making this day special. There was only one part that none of them were made aware of.

As he and Sara stood by the fireplace in the family room, he turned to Sara and smiled. "I have a huge favor to ask of you Sweetheart" she looked into his eyes telling him in no uncertain terms that she'd pretty much do anything for him. "I'd like for you to go and wait in my...our office for a few minutes." she looked mildly confused as she scanned the room.

"You want me to what?" she drew back slightly.

"I'd like for you to go to our office and wait there for a few minutes., Brass will come and get you when I need you." he wasn't adding more and she knew from the set of his jaw, he wasn't going to tell her more than that.

"Fine...okay, yeah...I'll just, just wait in the ... " she turned away confused, still shaking her head she walked from the family room and continued to their joint offices where she leaned casually against the desk wondering what her husband was up to. When she was gone and he had heard the door close behind her, he turned to his friends.

"You know that we got married when I, we were in the hospital...but we never had a wedding" he saw Catherine look up at him. "Well, in 20 minutes it will be Christmas, I was hoping that having all my family and friends here, we could pull off one more little bit of magic." he glanced at Al and his wife, Brass, I know that Sara asked you to give her away...so you'll be retrieving her when it's time. Catherine, you're her Matron Of Honor, I took the liberty of ordering flowers for the occasion, they're in the office upstairs if you and Greg will grab those, there's a bouquet for Sara as well." he saw her smile and knew he was off the hook as far as her being angry with him. Father Brannigan should be here shortly, he's the Pastor from our church, he's going to officiate. Nick smiled and handed him the marriage license that he'd picked up earlier. he was the only one that had any inkling of what was about to transpire.

"Good thing you got friends in high places Griss, you know they usually like both parties to be there when they request a license" he smiled.

"Thanks Nicky, I wanted it all to be a surprise for Sara, if I forget to thank anyone...thank you, from the bottom of my heart thank you!" he turned toward Greg, "You did bring the music I asked you too right?" Greg nodded suddenly realizing that Gil wasn't just going to go over songs with Sara as he had claimed during their conversation 'when the time comes we'll know what we want' he brought out the music and Gil handed it to Archie who as usual was late, better late than never. "You know the sound system, when the time comes, I want you to start the disc" Archie nodded in agreement and went to set up his job.

"Warrick, you'd do me an honor of being my Best Man?" younger investigator smiled and nodded. "Lindsey, I'd like you to grab the basket of rose petals and sprinkle them through the house, out into the garden and around the gazebo" she nodded and did as she was told.

"Guess that explains who gets to be the flower girl." she ran and hugged Gil before taking the basket and depositing the flowers from the steps and through the house...Father B showed up on time and Gil led him outside to his place in the Gazebo. David, Wendy and Mandy had gone with to see where they could help out. They were shocked to see the gazebo turned into something from a fairytale. There was fake snow scattered around and icicles hanging from the roof. Mini lights were everywhere but hidden so you saw only the lights but not the cords, it hadn't been easy and took Gil most of the day to get it just the way he wanted it.

Catherine came out to speak to him. "What are you going to say to get her down here and you do know, she's wearing a red dress right?" Gil nodded.

"Ah, but that's where you come in...I don't know how you're going to do it, but I took the liberty of picking out a dress for her...yeah I know, usually it's bad luck but ONLY if I see the bride in it before hand, nothing was said about the groom picking the dress out and putting the bride in it...Cath, you're going to have to convince her to change and NOT let her see what she's changing into until the right moment...can you do that?" he smiled hopefully.

"Geeze Gil, why not ask my to pull her teeth without her knowing it?" she loved how she always seemed to be the one picked for the impossible missions.

Everything was just about in place when Catherine went into the office and smiled at Sara who looked slightly pissed.

"Everyone enjoying their party?" she leaned against the desk checking her neatly polished nails.

"Well, yes but I have a huge favor to ask you...and you have to trust me on this okay?" Sara didn't think she liked the way Catherine looked guilty and up to something.

"Now what the hell does he want me to do, go back to the lab?" Catherine shook her head.

"It kinda involves you doing something with your eyes shut..." Sara shot her a glance that clearly asked if everyone had lost their minds..."Listen Sara, trust me on this...Grissom knows exactly what he's doing this time and in the end, you'll be well aware of what is going on...just trust me..." she had her hands together clasped in anticipation of Sara refusing. "Please, trust me, I was just as surprised by this as you...but this time...please just do as he asks without asking why." Sara nodded. "Okay, you need to take off your dress." Sara's mouth shot open.

"What? He picked this dress out, I had to get dressed at the lab..." she was going to argue the point until Catherine pointed out the obvious.

"Wasn't the surprise worth it?" She waited for Sara to agree that it had indeed. "Okay, I have this blindfold and I need to put it on you, then I'll help you change...okay?" Sara bit her lip and looked nervously around then turned and let Catherine tie the silk material over her eyes. "Can you see anything?" Sara shook her head.

"Not one damned thing...this so better be worth it!" her voice held contempt for being put in a position she wasn't comfortable with.

"Okay...hang on a sec...don't move!" Catherine opened the door and motioned to Gil to give her the dress. He mouthed to see if everything was okay and Catherine made a motion across her neck like a knife and pointed at him. He simply shrugged. She quickly came up behind Sara and smiled. "I'm going to unzip you know...all you have to do is step out of this dress and we'll have you set up in just a minute or two..." Sara felt a shiver as Catherine's cold hand touched her back, then she felt the zipper of the dress she was wearing slide slowly down her back and then the dress was casually pulled from her body.. "so far so good" Catherine smiled. As she unzipped the bag holding what was to be Sara's wedding gown, she nearly fainted at the beauty of it. It too was strapless with a tiny line of soft fluffy material around the top of the bodice. The upper portion was sequined and tailored expertly for Sara's size, it came to the floor where the bottom was also trimmed in the same soft fluffily material, making it look like she was standing in a cloud or a small pile of snow. There was a simplicity to the dress that was perfect for the woman who was being put into the dress but a beauty that took your breath away.

"Oh my God Sara, you're gorgeous..." it slipped from her tongue before she could stop the words.

"Ugh...Thanks...Cath..." she went to feel the dress but Catherine brushed her hand away.

"Nope, not yet..." she pulled out the headpiece to the dress, it was also done in the same soft fluffy line and when she placed it on Sara's head, the slightly taller brunette pulled back a bit.

"I'm not wearing some dopey hat Catherine!" she went to pull the thing off her head and was met by Catherine's hand stopping her progress.

"Nope, it's perfect for you...you'll see in a few minutes, I promise and if you still think it looks dopey, you can take it off." when she realized Sara wasn't going to try to pull it off again, she opened the door to see if they were ready for them. Brass was waiting just outside the door and slipped into the room with them.

"Oh wow, she's beautiful" he mouthed to Catherine. The flowers that Gil had chosen were White roses, Tiger Lilies, Lily Of The Valley and Babies Breath, all flowers that Sara said he loved. On one of the roses Gil had someone glue a beautiful butterfly and a bumble bee, nothing gaudy or ostentatious but fitting. On Catherine's flowers there was another little bee and a lady bug. "He thought of everything." he whispered to Catherine as Sara stood there, hands slightly splayed trying to decide what to do next.

Catherine maneuvered her toward a mirror that had been put on the back of the door. "Ready?" Sara stood, hands opening and closing as she waited for whatever was going to happen next. She nodded and bit her lip slightly, a nervous habit that each of them knew was typically Sara.

"Yeah...I'm ready..." she took a deep breath while Catherine untied the blindfold...when the material fell away and her eyes adjusted to the light of the room, her mouth fell open...words were not usually something she didn't have a ready supply of but this time, staring into the mirror and seeing the reflection that stared back at her...she thought of a book that Gil had bought her "The Snow Bride" and she looked as she imagined the main character to appear. "Oh...oh wow...Catherine did you...?" The blonde shook her head and smiled.

"He did it all himself Sara...he picked out this dress and the flowers" she handed over the bouquet that brought a tear to Sara's eyes..

"He remembered the bee." she whispered to no one in particular... "He wants to get married tonight?" she looked up and noticed Jim who also had misty eyes.

"He's waiting for you...whenever you're ready Cookie.." he held out his arm and waited for her to link hers into his... "Are you ready?" She smiled, turned to Catherine and winked. "As ready as I've ever been...let's get this show on the road..." as if on cue, music started playing and Jim led her out of the office. Catherine waved goodbye and hurried outside where the rest of the group was gathered. She saw rose petals spread from the door in a path leading through the kitchen and out to the backyard. When she got outside, she noticed that the gazebo looked like a snow castle from some fairytale and she felt tears gather in the corner of her eyes. Jim must have noticed as well and handed her his hankie...

"No tears Sara...you'll ruin your mascara.." he chuckled and winked. Gil was standing with Warrick by his side, Al and Conrad, Greg, Archie and David in a line beside them, Catherine stood with Wendy, Mandy, Al's wife and Judy who had joined them while she was getting changed. "Looks like everyone is here..." he smiled "Are you ready to officially become Mrs. Gil Grissom in the eyes of the church?" she nodded, licked her lips.

"I've been ready for the past 9 years Jim...for the past 9 years" and with that they walked out while the wedding march began to softly play. The church bells down the street signaled that it was midnight...Christmas Day!

"Dearly Beloved...we are gathered here today to witness the official union of this man and this woman...who gives this woman to be this man's lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do" Jim said with the biggest smile he could ever imagine. "I do!" he had stepped forward and placed Sara's hand into Gil's then stepped back.

"Let us begin..." and he read from his book and his bible. After he was finished, he smiled and stated. "At this time, Gil has asked to share his own words in place of the traditional vows.

Gil moved forward and faced Sara.

"I have for 9 years used the words of some very famous poets, scholars and such...but tonight, I use my own..." she smiled at that and his heart thumped that much faster. "It took a lot of twists and turns to get us to this point Sara. There were times I pulled you in, times I pushed you away...many times I've hurt you because of my own stupidity, insecurities and such...I Gilbert Grissom promise you Sara Jayne that in the future, decisions will be made together, I promise to keep my head out of the microscope and out of my ass" he turned to the priest and blushed "Sorry Father but I couldn't skip that part." the priest simply nodded for him to continue. "I promise to walk neither in front of, nor behind but always beside you.." he looked about ready to cry. "I promise to love, honor and o...oh...obey" he stuttered and everyone cracked up laughing, even Sara who wondered if he did that on purpose or not..."I vow to always try to see both sides of the story, to always try to listen to your point of view and to keep my own in check until asked for..." she laughed again. "I promise to be the kind of husband you've dreamt of as long as you'll have me...and I promise, I'll love you until my dying breath and beyond. You are Sara, my one and only!" he held her hands and squeezed them gently.

Sara looked up and realized it was her turn. "I really haven't had time to write anything...but I too promise to love, honor and obey you...unless it goes against my beliefs..." she chuckled and even Gil laughed at that one. "I shall be honored to walk beside you, support you when you need it, understand you when no one else wants to...I vow to love you today, tomorrow and forever...I waited 9 years for you and it was worth every minute, every tear, every laugh and every heartache...I'm yours forever...you are my one and only. Now and forever.." the priest waited to see if anything would be added.

"Having said those things, I now pronounce you husband and wife in the eyes of God!" he put his hand on both their shoulders and blessed them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Gilbert and Sara Grissom..." they turned to their friends and everyone clapped...

Gil and Sara hugged everyone in the house then proceeded to an area in the yard that Archie and Greg had managed to turn into a dance floor. The couple danced the first dance to Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and Catherine held onto Warrick with tears streaming down her face.

"Well, they did it Cath., Griss really pulled it off didn't he?" Warrick hoped that sometime in the near future, he'd be able to call Catherine his wife., his little trek down the aisle with Tina surprisingly hadn't tainted his picture on marriage. With the right person, he knew now that could only be Catherine, he pictured everything that Sara and Gil had and more.

"They sure did, I'm so glad he asked us all to pitch in. I don't think we could have asked for a more perfect outcome.

Greg and Nick along with Mandy and Wendy were chatting about all the surprises that Gil had pulled off that day. "And who would have guessed that Conrad would have been so willing to go along with them?" Wendy smiled as David approached with a glass of champagne for her. "Thanks David, I was just about to go get a glass." she clinked her crystal to his and both sipped at the same time.

"They do make a lovely couple" David smiled thinking how he wished it were him and Wendy out on that dance floor.

Conrad stood talking to his wife. "I'm glad you had me pull my head out of my ass." he kissed her lightly on the cheek making her blush.

"On more than one occasion " she laughed lightly as he handed her champagne. "They make a stunning couple Conrad, they surely do." she leaned against her husband and sighed. "I hope they have as much happiness as we've had" she had told him, after he'd returned home that no mention would ever again be made regarding his infidelity. She'd kept her word but often times Conrad found himself consumed with guilt considering where they were at right now.

"You always did know best my dear." he took her glass from her hand and joined the newlyweds on the dance floor. "If you would allow me the pleasure?" she laughed as Johnny Mathis began singing "The twelfth of Never!"

Al and his wife were also dancing, both recalling their own wedding. "I wish I had been daring enough to pull something like this off" Al spoke with deep admiration. "I never thought Grissom would pull his head out of his ass." he smiled at the woman he'd been married to for ages.

"You know Al, love does mysterious things." she kissed him and they swayed to the music. Al couldn't help himself and began to sing along. His wife didn't mind in the least, she knew he had a band and that he loved to sing and she loved to listen to his melodic voice.

The evening went on and on, there was plenty of food, laughter, dancing and chit chat among everyone and Gil and Sara spent the majority of the time clinging to each other and casting longing looks as they were pulled to various sides of the yard.

"How you holding up Mrs. Grissom?" he whispered as he passed her near the bar.

"Just fine Mr. Grissom and the children are having a blast too." she took his hand and placed it on her belly.

"They need to go to bed, I can't have them waking us up tonight." he teased her gently.

"Oh were you planning on sleeping anytime soon?" she winked and then wound up being pulled to another part of the yard by Catherine and Mandy.


	57. Chapter 57

A/N: can't have a wedding without a 'wedding night...' he he he...smut...that's all I'm saying.

Disclaimer: Sue me...I have nothing but I am holding Billy hostage...there is nothing you could offer me to give him up...okay, maybe an end to the writer's strike? Nah...only kidding hehehehe.

In the end, it had been a perfect evening. The wedding, the dancing the music, food were all done so that even the most analytical perfectionist wouldn't have been able to complain. Gil herded the last of the guests out the front door with Sara holding him tightly around the waist.

"Honey, I don't know what to say..." she looked up at him with the most adoring eyes and kissed him gently on the lips.

"You don't have to say anything, you already did my Darling Wife!" he held up her hand where her engagement ring was now nestled against the wedding band that matched his own. "When you said 'I do' You said everything I've wanted to hear since the day I met you..." he kissed her again then set the alarm and walked slowly upstairs toward their bedroom. "I have one more surprise for you!" he gently bent and easily lifted her up as they stood outside the closed bedroom door.

"Gil what are you doing? Put me down before you strain your back!" she was giggling but also serious.

"I'm carrying my beautiful new bride over our threshold!" he chuckled then tried to maneuver his load while opening the double doors. "I might need a little assistance though" he wanted to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid like banging her head or shoulders against the door. Sara reached out with one hand while holding on tightly to his neck with the other and got the second door unlatched. He gently kneed the double doors open and carried her inside. Candles lit the room, soft music played from the intercom system and on the bed was a tray with two champagne glasses, some strawberries, chocolate sauce and he would imagine the last article was from either Greg or Catherine, a can of whipped topping. "They certainly thought of everything!" he snickered then turned Sara around to see what it was that made him laugh.

"Oh my..." The bedding was new, Catherine had picked up another set similar to what she'd had but different enough for her to notice, everything was pressed and beautifully done up. "I have so got to thank everyone for this." she kissed her husband again as he gently placed her on the floor before him. "But most of all, I have to thank you...of all the things I ever imagined, a wedding day..." she started to tear up. "I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined something like this...I feel like a princess" she hugged him trying to staunch the emotional tide that threatened to overwhelm her.

"You are my princess" he kissed her once again, his hands roaming up and down her back where he gently cupped her rear. "I believe that in that room" he motioned toward the bathroom "There is something for you to change into..." he easily directed her to the door. "Don't take too long, I'll be right out here waiting." he kissed her once more then moved the tray from the bed and pulled back the covers., then he horridly stripped off the suit he was wearing and changed into the pajama bottoms that Catherine had picked for him. He had to admit, she had wonderfully perfect taste and he couldn't wait to see what she'd picked for Sara.

In the bathroom, Sara stood before the mirror and stared at her reflection. The beautiful ensemble that Catherine had chosen was perfect. Silk with delicate little butterflies, ladybugs and dragon flies must have been custom made. "Catherine, I owe you so much." she ran her hands down her rounded belly. "You guys have one hell of a special family and your Daddy...well words can't even begin to describe him..." she felt the tears starting again, reached into the drawer and dabbed at her eyes with the tissue she withdrew, all the time staring at the wedding ring set now ensconced on her ring finger. She slipped on the silk robe that went with the short negligee and double checked her reflection one last time. She looked beautiful and for the first time in her entire life...she felt that way as well.

"Gil was sitting nervously on the edge of the bed when the door opened. He wouldn't have been able to tell anyone why he was so nervous, it wasn't the first time he and Sara had made love but tonight it was different, tonight he was making love to his wife even though they'd been married since the first trip to the hospital. Tonight they had been married in the eyes of the church, with family and friends surrounding them and he wanted this night to be incredibly special to Sara. She stepped into the room and his eyes went from the top of her head to her feet and back again while his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "You...look...absolutely...stunning... Mrs. Grissom!" he stood up as she approached and held his hand out to her.

"You don't look so bad yourself Mr. Grissom" she smiled and then moved against him. Slowly she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him in closer. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?" she kissed his chin, his neck and drew her tongue up along his jaw line and then nibbled on his ear until she heard him groan...

"I'd never get tired of hearing it.." he hugged her tightly and could feel the tears behind his eyes. "I know we've been married but tonight just feels so much different" he felt her nod to his words.

"I know, it's ... Gil, what you did today, what everyone did for me..." she felt his lips skim across her forehead and his hands rub gently up and down her spine. "It was incredible, you're incredible...I'm so lucky..." he silenced her with a deep and passionate kiss.

"I'm the lucky one Sara..." he kissed her again then gently moved her toward the bed. Slowly his hands came up and his fingers tested the material as he moved to open the robe. Gently he slipped the material from her shoulders and hissed as he saw the spaghetti strapped negligee underneath. "You are beautiful..." his lips gently landed on her shoulders as he planted soft wet kisses there. "Simply perfect" he continued to her neck and up under her chin to her jaw line then back to her ears where he gently licked the lobe and behind, he heard her moan with each tender touch. "I can't imagine my life without you.." he moved to her eyelids, her cheeks and then her lips. Their tongues dueled for supremacy as he tasted her mouth like a parched man in an arid desert. "I love you..." he kissed her yet again. "More than I could have ever imagined..." his lips sucked at her bottom lip. "I think back on all the time this foolish man wasted" Sara pulled his head down to her mouth and covered his completely with wet deep kisses until his lips were swollen.

"We can't change the past but we can make sure we take care with the future" she pulled back and looked deeply into his cerulean eyes, "I don't want to ever hear you dwell on the past, I'll try to do the same" she smiled warmly. Gil felt his heart swell with even more love. "It might have taken us years to get this far...but" she kissed him lightly once again. "I wouldn't trade this for anything else in the world." he lifted her up and put her gently on the bed. She yelped with surprise as he jumped in the bed with her and then she started laughing. Gil couldn't believe that something so simple had her giggling like she was a school girl again.

"You my dear will spend the rest of your life living, laughing and being sooooo loved" he rolled over and leaned over her as he moved slowly toward her waiting mouth. "I will make every day special for you" he leaned into her and their lips met. Sara wrapped a leg around him and tried to get him to roll over as his tongue plundered her mouth. "No...noommmmmmmmmmmm" his words were silenced as they struggled for dominance. Gil eventually won and Sara lost her negligee in the process. As he leaned on his arm taking in the view, she once again squirmed from underneath him and managed to get him onto his back where she sat heavily on his legs.

"I win...I win...!" her hands shot over her head..."Where's my prize?" she giggled until he reached up and cupped both naked breasts in his hand and needed the pliable skin softly. "Ohhhhhhhhhh so that's how you want to repay my win!" she groaned in ecstasy and thrust her chest further into his hands. "God Gil you have the hands of a surgeon.." he stopped and quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Which surgeon that you know of had his hands on my breasts?" he was cute trying to be jealous.

"Your breasts?" her eyes shot open. "Let me hear you claim them when you have two hungry mouths attached to them...ohhhhhhhhhh Goddddddddddddddd" he had pulled her forward and latched onto one of the milky white orbs letting his tongue flick quickly against one of her pert nipples..."okay...never mind...skip thatttttttttttt thoughtttttttttttttt" she arched against him as he moved from one breast to the other. Sara decided to give him a taste of his own medicine, since she couldn't reach his nipples, she decided while his mouth was occupied, to reach beneath her and fondle him through his pajama bottoms.

"Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" his mouth was full and she pretended she couldn't hear him."

"What? Didn't your Mother tell you not to speak with your mouth full?" she batted her eyes innocently at him. "I can't quite hear what you're saying?" she managed to get her hand inside his pajamas and wrapped around his turgid flesh and smiled when he bucked into her hand. "Is there a problem Mr. Grissom?" she teased, laughing merrily. Gil continued his ministrations on her breasts but added teeth into the equation. Sara's eyes shot open and she doubled her efforts by reaching into his pants with two hands. She worked one up and down while the other cupped his balls. "Are we having fun yet?" she teased.

"Um huh" Gil mumbled through his mouth full of flesh but he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold out if Sara kept up her handiwork. "Uncle!" he cried as he released her flesh and dropped his head back into the pillow. Sara picked up a strawberry and gently bit off the end, making a production of sucking the fruit into her mouth before taking just a tiny bite, then she took the fruit and drew it around one of his nipples. Gil hissed from the sensation of the cold fruit on his hot skin.

"Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaraaaaaaaaaa" his head came up and then fell back as she followed up the trail of juices with her hot tongue...she plopped the fruit into her mouth, sucked on the juices then leisurely slid it down her throat. She then picked up the bottle of champagne and smiled. Gil's eyes nearly popped out of his head as she put it back down quickly got up and pulled down his pajama bottoms. Having moved so quickly he wasn't prepared when she hopped back onto his legs, picked up the champagne bottle and poured some of the cold fizzy liquid on his private area then put the bottle back down and started lapping it up before taking his member into her hot steamy mouth.

"Gooooooooooooooooodddddddddd you're goinggggggggggggg to killlllllllllllllll meeeeeeeee" was the only coherent words that came between hisses. Sara smiled up at him, took a mouthful of champagne then proceeded to suck his cock into her mouth. Between the heat of her mouth, the coldness of the liquid and the fizzing, he couldn't hold back and shot his load down her throat... Sara was prepared and swallowed everything. When she sat back up, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

"That was yummy...how'd that work for you Husband?" she giggled and he pulled her down onto his chest and locked his lips to hers. He could taste himself and the champagne in and on her mouth.

"You are going to pay Wife!" he rolled them over and pinned her onto the bed. Sara looked into his eyes and smiled.

"Give it your best shot big boy!"


	58. Chapter 58

A/N: more smut, what can I say it was the holiday season and I had to...butttttt. things can't always go so smoothly for our two can they????

Disclaimer: Hehehehe, end the strike I might give some of them back!

Sara was shocked speechless when Gil rolled her over and proceeded to kiss her from head to toe then simply stood up, picked the bottle of chocolate syrup up and left the room. He quickly returned and smiled from around the door. "Don't go away, I'll be right back" he winked and blew her a kiss, then closed the door and raced down the steps. Sara laid there staring at her ring, it was the only thing she had on at the moment. Gil returned as promised but the look on his face was one of pure lust and desire. "I told you I'd be right back, did you miss me?" he resumed his position straddling her legs. Sara blinked and smiled.

"Oh, were you gone?" she teased him with a flirtatious smile.

"Was I ...? Gone..?" he looked at her and then realized she was taunting him. "Oh I'll make sure the next time I leave you'll miss me..." he picked up the bottle of chocolate syrup and turned it over without opening the pop top on it. "Are you ready for desert Mrs. Grissom" _'God how he loved to be able to say that so openly' _

"What are you doing?" her eyes opened wide and her mouth stayed partially open. "Don't you dare Gilllllllllllllllllllllll" she felt the first warm trickles of the heated liquid drizzle onto her lips. She couldn't say much after that, the minute he'd applied the chocolate, he followed it down with his own mouth and then proceeded to lick and kiss her until every drop was gone. "Ohhhhhhhhhh I think I like this..." she smiled into his mouth. He sat back upright keeping his weight on his knees which he knew would probably kill him later.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this..." he turned the bottle upside down again and dribbled a little down her neck. "I hope this comes out of the bedding" he laughed before lapping the delectable liquid from the sides of her neck. Next he dripped it down her sternum and again proceeded to clean her with his slightly rough tongue. The next move covered her nipples with the dark fluid but this time he sat up and picked one of the luscious strawberries and dragged it in circles around her pert nipples. She signed and closed her eyes as the sensations threatened to push her over the edge, it was the first time she was that close to an orgasm without having had her clit touched. She didn't see him pick up the champagne and take a drink, holding it in his mouth, he quickly put the bottle back on the tray then descended onto one of her breasts. The fizzy sensation along with the heat of his mouth caused her to lose control and she felt the ripples of pleasure throughout her entire body. Gil did not let up., instead he drizzled chocolate down her belly and even dropped some in her navel where once again he moved in to clean her thoroughly. Sara felt spasm after spasm course through her like a tidal wave and aftershocks but Gil continued his path until he came to her mound.

Sara squealed as the warm liquid hit hot flustered flesh. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh warrrrrmmmm" she could only get out and again Gil pulled a strawberry down, traced it along the path he'd just traveled and then rubbed it around her nub. Before she could respond he repeated his trick with the champagne bottle and with a mouth full of the bubbly liquid, pressed his lips against her skin and opened his mouth slightly., she was quickly shoved over the abyss once more and this time the aftershocks took longer to come down from. "Ohhhhhhh GGGGooooddd, yooouuuu haaaaveeee to stoppppp" her legs bucked and back arched into his mouth..."Pllllleeeeeeeeeeaaaseeee Gilllllll IIIII caaan't ...no, not agaaaaaaiiiin..." she pulled her head up watching his face as he poured a dribble of the champagne between her legs. After putting the bottles of chocolate and champagne back on the tray, he reached between her folds with two fingers, spread her open like ripe fruit and suckled at the wet skin...Sara thought she would go insane the minute the third orgasm hit...she tried to clamp her legs shut but with him laying the way he was, she only proceeded in pressing him more tightly to her and she writhed in pleasure and pain. "Stttooooppppppp IIIII caaaannnn...I'mmmmmmmmm cummmmminggg aagggggggggh!" Gil suckled until he knew she couldn't handle the sensations anymore than sat up like a proud puppy and stared at her, tears in his eyes at her response to the pleasure he'd given and received...

"Say Uncle!" he mocked her... Sara rode out the spasms once more and then closed her eyes. She was taking longer to catch her breath and Gil hoped that he hadn't pushed her harder than he should have. "Are you okay?" she licked her lips, smiled and shook her head without ever opening her eyes.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm okay" she mumbled..."More than okay..." she continued to mumble with eyes closed tight.

"Sara...are you sure you're okay?" he was growing concerned. "I didn't hurt you did I? or the babies?" he wished she would just tell him but instead she laid there, finally opening her eyes and they were glazed over...and the smile she had on her face quickly put him at ease.

"No Gil, I'm okay...just...I never...never three times..." she huffed as she attempted to catch her breath..."I've never ... no one...ever..." her sentences were still not totally coherent. "Three times...I came three times" she reached up and ran her hand through his damp curls he smiled that grin that had her from the start. Gently she reached up and pulled him slowly down to her lips..."I love you so much" Their tongues dueled once again and Sara sobbed gently against his mouth.

"What's wrong Honey?" He sat up quickly facial features full of concern. "Did I make you unhappy? Did I hurt you? I pushed you didn't I shouldn't have...but..." she stilled his words with gentle fingers pressed to his lips.

"No, I'm happy Gil, for the first time in a long time, well...for most of my life I've never been this happy before...okay, I've never been...well yes there was this one time..." Gil sat there puzzled. "Well, the only other time I was this happy is when you finally let me in here" she touched his heart. "But since then and I'm not saying it had anything to do with you...I don't know how to say it...well, you see..." Gil smiled and continued to watch her struggle with her words. "You see, I never thought I could be this happy, I never thought I deserved it considering the family I came from..." it was Gil's turn to silence her.

"First of all Sara, just because your Mother didn't...You're not your Mother!" he was trying hard to say what needed to be addressed without tearing open old wounds. "Look, we both know your Mom was incapable of fighting to make herself happy, she was brutalized by a husband that thought the easiest way to deal with a problem was through violence, she might not have believed that she was worthy of love or happiness but she was wrong and if you believed that you also are not worthy of happiness...or love, then you'd never be happy, never be able to give love or receive it..see, that's where you differ, you give so much love that I'm not sure how to hold it all, and you deserve every ounce of happiness that you can ever imagine and then some...and you said today was one of your happiest right?" she nodded slowly. "I know we've gone through some really rough patches in our past to get where we are today...but look at our future...you're stuck with me..." she giggled "You have two beautiful babies growing inside of you...and you have a drool monster that loves you more than he loves me..." he laughed with her thinking about how Bruno was supposed to be his dog and wound up being enamored of Sara...and he didn't mind one bit.

He slid off of her and curled up beside her. They lay there for over an hour face to face simply reveling in the ability to touch and feel each other. He held her hand as he drifted off to sleep, only after he was sure she herself was asleep. "I love you Sara Grissom with all my heart" he whispered against the crown of her head. Sara smiled then rolled over where she spooned comfortably against him. Grissom wrapped his arm protectively around her waist where his hand splayed over her belly.

The next morning they woke up to the smell of coffee and something being cooked. "Gil...wake up, someone's in our house!" she gently shook him awake. Gil was buried under the pillows and it took a good rousing to get him to respond. "Gil...there is someone downstairs..." she pushed him harder then decided that the only way to get through to him would be to shock him awake so she reached under him and grabbed for his flaccid member only to find it not so limp. "Jesus Christ Grissom you go to bed with an erection and wake up with one...are you horny?" she saw the pillows move and his head come out with the cutest expression on her face. "Before you get any ideas, you better find out who the hell is downstairs, I smell food and coffee!" she let him go then rolled over looking for her negligee...

Grissom pulled on his pajama bottoms and then a robe "You wait here..." he removed his spare gun from it's place beside his bed and quietly opened the door. "I'll be right back" he mouthed but Sara was right behind him. "You stay here...I don't want anything to happen to you." He pushed her back into the bedroom and started to pull the door shut.

"I don't think burglars usually break in and make breakfast for their victims..." she laughed and held tight to the belt on his robe. "I'm going with you!" she silently crept down the stairs, stopping every few stairs to listen. Sara could swear she heard humming but couldn't say anything to Gil at this point because of their proximity to the kitchen. He moved swiftly around the corner and drew his weapon.

"Hold it!:" he came face to face with Catherine and Brass.

"Geeze Gil...good morning to you too" she had a look of pure shock on her face. "Sara, good to see you're up, we made breakfast for you!" she noticed Sara standing directly behind Gil.

"Well howdy do, if it isn't the newlyweds and from the looks of it...they had a veeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrry goooood night!" he whispered...Brass rolled his eyes and turned before he could catch the look Grissom threw at him.

"Could I ask you something Catherine..." Gil walked around Brass and took her by the arm.

"Sure...my you smell...like chocolate...and straw..." she shut her mouth when she happened to catch Gil staring at her. "Never mind..." she laughed..."My bad!" Gil would have liked to ring her neck.

"How many times are you going to simply barge in here unannounced?" she above anyone knew how uncomfortable he was with people in his place though the shindig he threw yesterday would beg to differ.

"Look, Brass and I figured you'd probably work up an appetite this morning after..." her eyes shot upward toward the bedroom "Ya know...anyway, we thought we'd slip in, make you breakfast and slip out...but hey" she wrapped an arm through his. "Now that you're up, I'll just make us all breakfast!" she pulled loose and headed toward the kitchen where Brass was handing Sara a cup of coffee. Gil reached over her and pulled it from their hands.

"Nope, this is probably not decaf and with the babies..." Sara looked like a child who had her last sucker pulled away from her. "Sorry honey but you know that unless it's decaf you can't have it!" she pouted.

"Gil it's decaf, I was pregnant once too ya know!" Catherine took the cup from Gil and handed it back to Sara..."Now leave the poor girl alone, why don't you two boys go have a cup of coffee and a nice chat and I'll keep Sara here with me..." she handed them both coffee and shoved the out the back sliders to the deck. Turning toward Sara she smiled "Now, give me some details!" she winked then led Sara over to the table and sat down...


	59. Chapter 59

A/N: Giving you not only 1 chapter but three tonight, smut is involved in all of them so don't say you haven 't been warned after all, they did just have a wedding...LOL. Thank you again to everyone for their continued reading and support, your reviews keep me striving to write more...I just hope you're still up for a few more chapter...

Disclaimer: You don't want to pay the writers...then I'll take them along with CSI main characters...they're mine...mine mine...and you can't have them back...till you pay up...

In the end, it had been a perfect evening. The wedding, the dancing the music, food were all done so that even the most analytical perfectionist wouldn't have been able to complain. Gil herded the last of the guests out the front door with Sara holding him tightly around the waist.

"Honey, I don't know what to say..." she looked up at him with the most adoring eyes and kissed him gently on the lips.

"You don't have to say anything, you already did my Darling Wife!" he held up her hand where her engagement ring was now nestled against the wedding band that matched his own. "When you said 'I do' You said everything I've wanted to hear since the day I met you..." he kissed her again then set the alarm and walked slowly upstairs toward their bedroom. "I have one more surprise for you!" he gently bent and easily lifted her up as they stood outside the closed bedroom door.

"Gil what are you doing? Put me down before you strain your back!" she was giggling but also serious.

"I'm carrying my beautiful new bride over our threshold!" he chuckled then tried to maneuver his load while opening the double doors. "I might need a little assistance though" he wanted to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid like banging her head or shoulders against the door. Sara reached out with one hand while holding on tightly to his neck with the other and got the second door unlatched. He gently kneed the double doors open and carried her inside. Candles lit the room, soft music played from the intercom system and on the bed was a tray with two champagne glasses, some strawberries, chocolate sauce and he would imagine the last article was from either Greg or Catherine, a can of whipped topping. "They certainly thought of everything!" he snickered then turned Sara around to see what it was that made him laugh.

"Oh my..." The bedding was new, Catherine had picked up another set similar to what she'd had but different enough for her to notice, everything was pressed and beautifully done up. "I have so got to thank everyone for this." she kissed her husband again as he gently placed her on the floor before him. "But most of all, I have to thank you...of all the things I ever imagined, a wedding day..." she started to tear up. "I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined something like this...I feel like a princess" she hugged him trying to staunch the emotional tide that threatened to overwhelm her.

"You are my princess" he kissed her once again, his hands roaming up and down her back where he gently cupped her rear. "I believe that in that room" he motioned toward the bathroom "There is something for you to change into..." he easily directed her to the door. "Don't take too long, I'll be right out here waiting." he kissed her once more then moved the tray from the bed and pulled back the covers., then he hurriedly stripped off the suit he was wearing and changed into the pajama bottoms that Catherine had picked for him. He had to admit, she had wonderfully perfect taste and he couldn't wait to see what she'd picked for Sara.

In the bathroom, Sara stood before the mirror and stared at her reflection. The beautiful ensemble that Catherine had chosen was perfect. Silk with delicate little butterflies, ladybugs and dragon flies must have been custom made. "Catherine, I owe you so much." she ran her hands down her rounded belly. "You guys have one hell of a special family and your Daddy...well words can't even begin to describe him..." she felt the tears starting again, reached into the drawer and dabbed at her eyes with the tissue she withdrew, all the time staring at the wedding ring set now ensconced on her ring finger. She slipped on the silk robe that went with the short negligee and double checked her reflection one last time. She looked beautiful and for the first time in her entire life...she felt that way as well.

"Gil was sitting nervously on the edge of the bed when the door opened. He wouldn't have been able to tell anyone why he was so nervous, it wasn't the first time he and Sara had made love but tonight it was different, tonight he was making love to his wife even though they'd been married since the first trip to the hospital. Tonight they had been married in the eyes of the church, with family and friends surrounding them and he wanted this night to be incredibly special to Sara. She stepped into the room and his eyes went from the top of her head to her feet and back again while his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "You...look...absolutely...stunning Mrs. Grissom!" he stood up as she approached and held his hand out to her.

"You don't look so bad yourself Mr. Grissom" she smiled and then moved against him. Slowly she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him in closer. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?" she kissed his chin, his neck and drew her tongue up along his jawline and then nibbled on his ear until she heard him groan...

"I'd never get tired of hearing it.." he hugged her tightly and could feel the tears behind his eyes. "I know we've been married but tonight just feels so much different" he felt her nod to his words.

"I know, it's ... Gil, what you did today, what everyone did for me..." she felt his lips skim across his forehead and his hands rub gently up and down her spine. "It was incredible, you're incredible...I'm so lucky..." he silenced her with a deep and passionate kiss.

"I'm the lucky one Sara..." he kissed her again then gently moved her toward the bed. Slowly his hands came up and his fingers tested the material as he moved to open the robe. Gently he slipped the material from her shoulders and hissed as he saw the spaghetti strapped negligee underneath. "You are beautiful..." his lips gently landed on her shoulders as he planted soft wet kisses there. "Simply perfect" he continued to her neck and up under her chin to her jawline then back to her ears where he gently licked the lobe and behind, he heard her moan with each tender touch. "I can't imagine my life without you.." he moved to her eyelids, her cheeks and then her lips. Their tongues dueled for supremacy as he tasted her mouth like a parched man in an arid desert. "I love you..." he kissed her yet again. "More than I could have ever imagined..." his lips sucked at her bottom lip. "I think back on all the time this foolish man wasted" Sara pulled his head down to her mouth and covered his completely with wet deep kisses until his lips were swollen.

"We can't change the past but we can make sure we take care with the future" she pulled back and looked deeply into his cerulean eyes, "I don't want to ever hear you dwell on the past, I'll try to do the same" she smiled warmly. Gil felt his heart swell with even more love. "It might have taken us years to get this far...but" she kissed him lightly once again. "I wouldn't trade this for anything else in the world." he lifted her up and put her gently on the bed. She yelped with surprise as he jumped in the bed with her and then she started laughing. Gil couldn't believe that something so simple had her giggling like she was a school girl again.

"You my dear will spend the rest of your life living, laughing and being sooooo loved" he rolled over and leaned over her as he moved slowly toward her waiting mouth. "I will make every day special for you" he leaned into her and their lips met. Sara wrapped a leg around him and tried to get him to roll over as his tongue plundered her mouth. "No...noommmmmmmmmmmm" his words were silenced as they struggled for dominance. Gil eventually won and Sara lost her negligee in the process. As he leaned on his arm taking in the view, she once again squirmed from underneath him and managed to get him onto his back where she sat heavily on his legs.

"I win...I win...!" her hands shot over her head..."Where's my prize?" she giggled until he reached up and cupped both naked breasts in his hand and needed the pliable skin softly. "Ohhhhhhhhhh so that's how you want to repay my win!" she groaned in ecstasy and thrust her chest further into his hands. "God Gil you have the hands of a surgeon.." he stopped and quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Which surgeon that you know of had his hands on my breasts?" he was cute trying to be jealous.

"Your breasts?" her eyes shot open. "Let me hear you claim them when you have two hungry mouths attached to them...ohhhhhhhhhh Goddddddddddddddd" he had pulled her forward and latched onto one of the milky white orbs letting his tongue flick quickly against one of her pert nipples..."okay...never mind...skip thatttttttttttt thoughtttttttttttttt" she arched against him as he moved from one breast to the other. Sara decided to give him a taste of his own medicine, since she couldn't reach his nipples, she decided while his mouth was occupied, to reach beneath her and fondle him through his pajama bottoms.

"Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" his mouth was full and she pretended she couldn't hear him."

"What? Didn't your Mother tell you not to speak with your mouth full?" she batted her eyes innocently at him. "I can't quite hear what you're saying?" she managed to get her hand inside his pajamas and wrapped around his turgid flesh and smiled when he bucked into her hand. "Is there a problem Mr. Grissom?" she teased, laughing merrily. Gil continued his ministrations on her breasts but added teeth into the equation. Sara's eyes shot open and she doubled her efforts by reaching into his pants with two hands. She worked one up and down while the other cupped his balls. "Are we having fun yet?" she teased.

"Um huh" Gil mumbled through his mouth full of flesh but he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold out if Sara kept up her handiwork. "Uncle!" he cried as he released her flesh and dropped his head back into the pillow. Sara picked up a strawberry and gently bit off the end, making a production of sucking the fruit into her mouth before taking just a tiny bite, then she took the fruit and drew it around one of his nipples. Gil hissed from the sensation of the cold fruit on his hot skin.

"Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaraaaaaaaaaa" his head came up and then fell back as she followed up the trail of juices with her hot tongue...she plopped the fruit into her mouth, sucked on the juices then leisurely slid it down her throat. She then picked up the bottle of champagne and smiled. Gil's eyes nearly popped out of his head as she put it back down quickly got up and pulled down his pajama bottoms. Having moved so quickly he wasn't prepared when she hopped back onto his legs, picked up the champagne bottle and poured some of the cold fizzy liquid on his private area then put the bottle back down and started lapping it up before taking his member into her hot steamy mouth.

"Gooooooooooooooooodddddddddd you're goinggggggggggggg to killlllllllllllllll meeeeeeeee" was the only coherent words that came between hisses. Sara smiled up at him, took a mouthful of champagne then proceeded to suck his cock into her mouth. Between the heat of her mouth, the coldness of the liquid and the fizzing, he couldn't hold back and shot his load down her throat... Sara was prepared and swallowed everything. When she sat back up, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

"That was yummy...how'd that work for you Husband?" she giggled and he pulled her down onto his chest and locked his lips to hers. He could taste himself and the champagne in and on her mouth.

"You are going to pay Wife!" he rolled them over and pinned her onto the bed. Sara looked into his eyes and smiled.

"Give it your best shot big boy!"


	60. Chapter 60

Sara was shocked speechless when Gil rolled her over and proceeded to kiss her from head to toe then simply stood up, grabbed the bottle of chocolate syrup up and left the room. He quickly returned and smiled from around the door. "Don't go away, I'll be right back" he winked and blew her a kiss, then closed the door and raced down the steps. Sara laid there staring at her ring, it was the only thing she had on at the moment. Gil returned as promised but the look on his face was one of pure lust and desire. "I told you I'd be right back, did you miss me?" he resumed his position straddling her legs. Sara blinked and smiled.

"Oh, were you gone?" she teased him with a flirty smile.

"Was I ...? Gone..?" he looked at her and then realized she was taunting him. "Oh I'll make sure the next time I leave you'll miss me..." he picked up the bottle of chocolate syrup and turned it over after opening the pop top on it. "Are you ready for desert Mrs. Grissom" _'God how he loved to be able to say that so openly. _

"What are you doing?" her eyes opened wide and her mouth stayed partially open. "Don't you dare Gilllllllllllllllllllllll" she felt the first warm trickles of the heated liquid drizzle onto her lips. She couldn't say much after that, the minute he'd applied the chocolate, he followed it down with his own mouth and then proceeded to lick and kiss her until every drop was gone. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh…… I think I like this..." she smiled into his mouth. He sat back upright keeping his weight on his knees which he knew would probably kill him later.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this..." he turned the bottle upside down again and dribbled a little down her neck. "I hope this comes out of the bedding" he laughed before lapping the delectable liquid from the sides of her neck. Next he dripped it down her sternum and again proceeded to clean her with his slightly rough tongue. The next move covered her nipples with the dark fluid but this time he sat up and picked one of the luscious strawberries and dragged it in circles around her pert nipples. She signed and closed her eyes as the sensations threatened to push her over the edge, it was the first time she was that close to an orgasm without having been touched sexually. She didn't see him pick up the champagne and take a drink, holding it in his mouth; he quickly put the bottle back on the tray then descended onto one of her breasts. The fizzy sensation along with the heat of his mouth caused her to lose control and she felt the ripples of pleasure throughout her entire body. Gil did not let up., instead he drizzled chocolate down her belly and even dropped some in her navel where once again he moved in to clean her thoroughly. Sara felt spasm after spasm course through her like a tidal wave and aftershocks but Gil continued his path until he came to her mound.

Sara squealed as the warm liquid hit hot flustered flesh. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh warrrrrmmmm" she could only get out and again Gil pulled a strawberry down, traced it along the path he'd just traveled and then rubbed it around her nub. Before she could respond he repeated his trick with the champagne bottle and with a mouth full of the bubbly liquid, pressed his lips against her skin and opened his mouth slightly., she was quickly shoved over the abyss once more and this time the aftershocks took longer to come down from. "Ohhhhhhh GGGGooooddd, yooouuuu haaaaveeee to stoppppp" her legs bucked and her back arched as she pressed her delicious flesh further into his mouth..."Pllllleeeeeeeeeeaaaseeee Gilllllll IIIII caaan't ... agaaaaaaiiiin..." she pulled her head up watching his face as he poured a dribble of the champagne between her legs. After putting the bottles of chocolate and champagne back on the tray, he reached between her folds with two fingers, spread her open like ripe fruit and suckled at the wet skin...Sara thought she would go insane the minute the third orgasm hit...she tried to clamp her legs shut but with him laying the way he was, she only proceeded in pressing him more tightly to her and she writhed in pleasure and pain. "Stttooooppppppp IIIII caaaannnn...Oh God…..Ohhhh, Goddddd…...I'mmmmmmmmm cummmmminggg aagggggggggh!" Gil suckled until he knew she couldn't handle the sensations anymore than sat up like a proud puppy and stared at her, tears in his eyes at her response to the pleasure he'd given and received...

"Say Uncle!" he mocked her... Sara rode out the spasms once more and then closed her eyes. She was taking longer to catch her breath and Gil hoped that he hadn't pushed her harder than he should have. "Are you okay?" she licked her lips, smiled and shook her head without ever opening her eyes.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm" she nodded "I'mmmm okay" she mumbled..."More than okay..." she continued to mumble with eyes closed tight.

"Sara...are you sure you're okay?" he was growing concerned. "I didn't hurt you did I? or the babies?" he wished she would just tell him but instead she laid there, finally opening her eyes and they were glazed over...and the smile she had on her face quickly put him at ease.

"No Gil, I'm okay...just...I never...never three times, hardly ever twice but three….three times..." she huffed as she attempted to catch her breath..."I've never ... no one...ever..." her sentences were still not totally coherent. "Three times...I came three times" she reached up and ran her hand through his damp curls he smiled that grin that had her from the start. Gently she reached up and pulled him slowly down to her lips..."I love you so much" Their tongues dueled once again and Sara sobbed gently against his mouth.

"What's wrong Honey?" He sat up quickly facial features full of concern. "Did I make you unhappy? Did I hurt you? I pushed you didn't I shouldn't have...but..." she stilled his words with gentle fingers pressed to his lips.

"No, I'm happy Gil, for the first time in a long time, well...for most of my life I've never been this happy before...okay, I've never been...well yes there was this one time..." Gil sat there puzzled. "Well, the only other time I was this happy is when you finally let me in here" she touched his heart. "But since then and I'm not saying it had anything to do with you...I don't know how to say it...well, you see..." Gil smiled and continued to watch her struggle with her words. "You see, I never thought I could be this happy, I never thought I deserved it considering the family I came from..." it was Gil's turn to silence her.

"First of all Sara, just because your Mother didn't...You're not your Mother!" he was trying hard to say what needed to be addressed without tearing open old wounds. "Look, we both know your Mom was incapable of fighting to make herself happy, she was brutalized by a husband that thought the easiest way to deal with a problem was through violence, she might not have believed that she was worthy of love or happiness but she was wrong and if you believed that you also are not worthy of happiness...or love, then you'd never be happy, never be able to give love or receive it. see, that's where you differ, you give so much love that I'm not sure how to hold it all, and you deserve every ounce of happiness that you can ever imagine and then some...and you said today was one of your happiest right?" she nodded slowly. "I know we've gone through some really rough patches in our past to get where we are today...but look at our future...you're stuck with me..." she giggled "You have two beautiful babies growing inside of you...and you have a drool monster that loves you more than he loves me..." he laughed with her thinking about how Bruno was supposed to be his dog and wound up being enamored of Sara...and he didn't mind one bit.

He slid off of her and curled up beside her. They lay there for over an hour face to face simply reveling in the ability to touch and feel each other. He held her hand as he drifted off to sleep, only after he was sure she herself was asleep. "I love you Sara Grissom with all my heart" he whispered against the crown of her head. Sara smiled then rolled over where she spooned comfortably against him. Grissom wrapped his arm protectively around her waist where his hand splayed over her belly.

The next morning they woke up to the smell of coffee and something being cooked. "Gil...wake up, someone's in our house!" she gently shook him awake. Gil was buried under the pillows and it took a good rousing to get him to respond. "Gil...there is someone downstairs..." she pushed him harder then decided that the only way to get through to him would be to shock him awake so she reached under him and grabbed for his flaccid member only to find it not so limp. "Jesus Christ Grissom you go to bed with an erection and wake up with one...are you horny?" she saw the pillows move and his head come out with the cutest expression on her face. "Before you get any ideas, you better find out who the hell is downstairs, I smell food and coffee!" she let him go then rolled over looking for her negligee...

Grissom pulled on his pajama bottoms and then a robe "You wait here..." he removed his spare gun from it's place beside his bed and quietly opened the door. "I'll be right back" he mouthed but Sara was right behind him. "You stay here...I don't want anything to happen to you." He pushed her back into the bedroom and started to pull the door shut.

"I don't think burglars usually break in and make breakfast for their victims..." she laughed and held tight to the belt on his robe. "I'm going with you!" she silently crept down the stairs, stopping every few stairs to listen. Sara could swear she heard humming but couldn't say anything to Gil at this point because of their proximity to the kitchen. He moved swiftly around the corner and drew his weapon.

"Hold it!:" he came face to face with Catherine and Brass.

"Geeze Gil...good morning to you too" she had a look of pure shock on her face. "Sara, good to see you're up, we made breakfast for you!" she noticed Sara standing directly behind Gil.

"Well howdy do, if it isn't the newlyweds and from the looks of it...they had a veeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrry goooood night!" he whispered...Brass rolled his eyes and turned before he could catch the look Grissom threw at him. He continued to set the table for four and pull out coffee cups. "Wish I knew where you kept everything, I almost had to come up to ask where the coffee was, what kind of surprise would that have been?" he snickered.

"Could I ask you something Catherine..." Gil walked around Brass and took her by the arm.

"Sure...my you smell...like chocolate...and straw..." she shut her mouth when she happened to catch Gil staring at her. "Never mind..." she laughed..."My bad!" Gil would have liked to ring her neck.

"How many times are you going to simply barge in here unannounced?" she above anyone knew how uncomfortable he was with people in his place thought the shindig he threw yesterday would beg to differ.

"Look, Brass and I figured you'd probably work up an appetite this morning after..." her eyes shot upward toward the bedroom "Ya know...anyway, we thought we'd slip in, make you breakfast and slip out...but hey" she wrapped an arm through his. "Now that you're up, I'll just make us all breakfast!" she pulled loose and headed toward the kitchen where Brass was handing Sara a cup of coffee. Gil reached over her and pulled it from their hands.

"Nope, this is probably not decaf and with the babies..." Sara looked like a child who had her last sucker pulled away from her. "Sorry honey but you know that unless it's decaf you can't have it!" she pouted.

"Gil its decaf, I was pregnant once too ya know!" Catherine took the cup from Gil and handed it back to Sara..."Now leave the poor girl alone, why don't you two boys go have a cup of coffee and a nice chat and I'll keep Sara here with me..." she handed them both coffee and shoved the out the back sliders to the deck. Turning toward Sara she smiled "Now, give me some details!" she winked then led Sara over to the table and sat down...

Sara smiled, all she would say was "He's good, very good..." and smile again, Catherine was feeling a tad bit jealous and Brass immediately noticed the subtle change in the red head.

"We should eat and be going, you have some stuff you need to finish at the lab don't ya Cat?" he winked hoping she would catch on. Catherine tried to ignore him for the moment.

"Come on Sara, I've waited all these years to know what he was like in bed..." she leaned in closer.

"Well, he's about 5 foot 11 inches, salt and pepper hair, beautiful blue eyes...built like a God..." she laughed with each word as Catherine finally realized she wasn't about to get anything she was fishing for.

"Oh never mind" she stood up, grabbed up her purse and motioned for Jim that it was time to leave.

"I hope you enjoyed your breakfast...I'll see you later" she smiled warmly but even Sara could see the slight irritation on her face.

"Thanks...we will" Gil had returned, wrapped a protective arm around Sara and walked the two toward the door. "Thanks again...for everything" he really meant it.


	61. Chapter 61

Gil remembered that he had some things to wrap up at the lab and asked Sara if it would be okay if he worked for just a few hours. Not wanting to deny him something so simple she'd agreed and promised she would take it easy today. Gil doubted that she would but after a few minutes of sensuous kisses, he'd finally packed up his briefcase and left for the lab. Two hours later he had meant to call Sara but found himself going over some applications for openings on both Swing and Day. Ecklie had asked him for his opinion and stated that the reason he needed some ideas from Gil was simply that the time would come before they knew it for Sara to go on full maternity leave and he didn't want her to feel obligated to return to the job if she decided she preferred staying home with the kids.

Sara was bored, it meant the house got a thorough cleaning from top to bottom, the dog got washed, clothes were sorted through according to seasons. Something that Gil had never done and when he started looking for certain shirts and slacks only to be told they'd been packed away because "It's Winter Gil, you can't wear short sleeve shirts in Winter" he wanted to ask her "why the hell now, I've done it for 40 some years?" but the look that she gave him was enough for him to keep his opinions to himself.

He pulled up on a 75 degree day and found her outside washing her car, it was the last straw when he quickly exited his Denali and stomped over.

"Are you out of your frigg'n mind Sara?" he picked up the bucket and proceeded to dump it on the street. "You're pregnant with twins for God sake, pay one of the neighbor kids to do this." she looked at him with mouth agape and then looked down at the hose she was holding. Gil missed the glint in her eyes or he would have been more prepared when during his continuing tirade, she decided he needed to cool off and turned it on full blast hitting him in the face.

"Chill out...I'm not an invalid!" she started laughing and had to hold her burgeoning belly. Gil stood there, glasses askew and soaked from head to toe.

"Dammit woman!" he wanted to yell but the full out smile made him quickly change his mind. "You could have just told me to chill!" he laughed with her and put down his briefcase. He started to stalk her around the vehicle and she moved only as far as the hose would allow.

"Don't you dare even think of it!" she backed up but the rubber hose only gave so much and she was stopped short as he advanced on her. "Gilbert Grissom if you know what's good for you..." she never got to finish, he grabbed the hose and dropped it to the ground, quickly spun her around and his lips covered hers, his tongue sought its mate and she moaned loudly. "Much better" she kissed him with abandon.

"I should take you over my knee" his blue twinkled with delight "and show you who is boss." He picked her up, surprising her because he was still able to and kissed her once again. "That's what I should do." he laughed. The look was good for him and it warmed her heart that he was able to giggle and relax with her.

"If you do, I'm not responsible for peeing on your knee!" she cracked that gapped tooth smile and he kissed her.

"You can pee on my legs anytime you want!" he scrunched up his nose "But I'm certainly blaming you...I'm not going to be wearing depends any sooner than I have to" he teased her lightly.

"I'll take the blame even when you are honey!" she wrapped her arms around him and leaned heavily into him as she slid back to the ground. Gil took the opportunity to run his hands down her belly. "We can get a family discount" she snickered as his hands spanned her abdomen.

"You just wait" he pushed her away gently then took the hose from her along with the sponge "but I'm serious Sara, I don't want you doing stuff to push yourself!" he tried hard to voice his concerns without upsetting her.

"I'm bored Gil." She leaned against the car "I'm not used to having time on my hands and now that it's getting harder to move around in the field, Ecklie's going to want me in the lab and I'm limited to chemicals I can be exposed to." she looked sad and unsettled. "I know I'm complaining but..." he nodded knowing that Sara liked to stay as active as possible. "I know when we have the babies.." she got a dreamy look about her "Things will be different...and well" Gil had wondered if she would want to be a stay at home mom and he was more than happy to provide for his growing family but he'd been hesitant to bring that subject up and figured it was something they'd eventually touch on when the time was right. "I've been thinking..." she bit her lip..."You know when I left..." she stuttered over her words. "I was thinking of leaving the lab...and I've been thinking about the babies, I don't know if I want anyone else raising our kids but..." she leaned against the car and her hands braced on each side of her belly.

"You thinking of becoming a stay at home Mom or do you want me to be Mr. Mom?" he teased then winked at her. "You know, it's okay if that's what you want to do...you staying home with the kids...and then if you want, you could consult or perhaps...work part time when they're older?" he smiled and she started to tear up.

"What did I do to deserve you?" she kissed his neck and licked the spot right under his chin.

"You chased me until I yelled Uncle!" he laughed then turned the hose on her full blast, dropped it and took of running into the house...Sara stood there soaked to the skin with her mouth opening and closing like a lost fish..

"Gilbert Grissom you're a dead man!" she screamed as he slammed the front door. She pulled the car into the garage along with his Denali which he'd pulled up to the curb, then rolled up the hose, dumped out the bucket, squeezed out the sponge and closed the garage door. Gil was in the shower when she came in and she quietly walked into the laundry room and threw in a load of towels turning the hot water on. She walked into the kitchen and put the dishwasher on Pots and Pans making sure that it too required any residual hot water and then she heard him.

"Jesus Christ Sara Jayne Grissom..." and she sat on the kitchen chair thumbing through a baby magazine until she heard him come out of their bathroom and slam the door. "I'm freezing my balls off thanks to you!" he sounded pissed but Sara knew he couldn't possibly stay mad at her.

"Come on down Honey, I'll warm them up for you!" she teased before she picked up her magazine and heading up to change from her wet clothes. She passed him as he sat on the bed toweling his wet hair and trying to maintain an air of indignity."You owe me Sara!" he kept his head down as he roughly rubbed at his hair. "You could have shocked my heart into cardiac arrest and..." She stood in front of him, hands on his shoulders and tried hard not to laugh.

"And then I would have brought you back with the breath of life..." she smiled seductively and slowly lowered herself on her knees between his legs. Her hands were warm as she touched heated flesh and pushed him back with her head against his belly. "Let me see if I'm up to date on my CPR" she looked up, licked her lips salaciously and popped his cock into her mouth..he nearly jumped when he felt the heat against his skin. "Ummmmmmmmmmmmm I think it's working" she wrapped her hand around the base and with the other she pumped upward with a twist of her wrist, a flex of her hand followed by increased and gentle suction. Gil moaned and fell backwards on the bed. His eyes rolled back in his head.

"Ugggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh Goooooooooodddddddd woman..." he gasped between sucks..."I'mmmmmm goinnnnnnnnnggggg to dieeeeeeeeeee...byyyyyyyyyy..." she swallowed him as far as she could take him for his size and then worked her throat muscles as her tongue lashed back and forth on its journey up the shaft..."Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhh Goddddddddddddddddddddd" his hips bucked and before he could say more he shot a heavy load of cum down her throat...while her hands cupped his balls and worked the soft flesh back and forth. When he was finished he gulped for air and laid there feeling absolutely boneless. Sara sat up, wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand and smiled

"I believe my work here is finished!" she stood as quickly as she could then walked away to pull the laundry out of the washer and toss the towels into the dryer. Gil couldn't say anything, he simply laid there and wondered how it was this wonderful woman would do that, not expect anything in reciprocation and seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself. "How'd that work for you? Your balls any warmer now?" she teased from laundry room.

"I think I died and went to heaven!" he muttered. She came out and found him curled up on the bed looking very happy and drowsy. "God Sara, what you do to me...for me" he reached out his hand and linked his fingers with hers as she dropped onto the bed behind him. "I don't know what I did to... to deserve you...but I'm glad that you're mine!" he kissed her hand as she curled up and spooned to his back. "Sometimes I feel like an idiot for waiting so long...all of this could have been mine years ago..." he turned his head and smiled up at her. She simply rolled him back toward her and kissed him gingerly on the lips.

"Yes it could have but..." she kissed him again. "We might have grown tired of each other back then...sometimes the best things in life are worth waiting for..." she kissed him and licked across the seam of his lips. "And worth fighting for.." she smiled and with a delicate finger, traced the creases in his brow.

She watched him drop off to sleep with a huge contented sigh. Snuggling against him, she soon drifted off herself to a dreamless sleep.


	62. Chapter 62

As it was, Ecklie had found some very useful work that also kept Sara pretty busy. He'd decided that the spare office in the lab could contain the files of 'cold cases and ones that got away' and asked Sara if she could sort and file them with assistance from Judy of course, then she'd be in charge of going over them and seeing if anything new could be found in Codis or any of the other newly available lists that the FBI had so nicely provided. It gave her something to keep her mind and body occupied without overtaxing her and it kept Grissom happy by having his wife out of the field early. Conrad had promise that if anything big came in and she was feeling up to it, she could include herself in the investigation providing Grissom said it was okay.

"Thanks Conrad!" she smiled as box after box was brought in from storage. She sat behind her new desk complete with pictures of Gil and the ultrasound pictures they'd acquired. Grissom walked in with his fetal pig.

"Taking your pet for another walk?" she teased him as he sat down in the chair before her desk.

"Well since Catherine didn't want it as an office warming gift..." he started with a smile

"You mean a closet warming gift don't you...?" she snickered "Let's face it Gil, that office they originally gave her was no bigger than a closet." he nodded and remembered how pissed Catherine had been when she found out what had been assigned to her with her promotion to Swing Shift Manager.

"Well anyway, she wouldn't give Miss Piggy a proper home and I was thinking.." he put the jar beside their pictures. "It would look good right here." his raised eyebrow and quirky smile gave him away.

"I am not putting a radiated fetal pig near my...our babies...besides, it still pains me to think of that poor pig..." he knew she was teasing., they'd long since past the point of rehashing that whole episode. "Take her back to her spot on your shelf, I promise to visit her often.." she wiggled her own eyebrows at her stunned husband.

Gil looked around her office. "Do you need help with anything?" he didn't want her hoisting heavy cartons of records onto the desk in the middle of the room. Sara read his mind once again.

"Judy has been a great help between her front desk duties and Greg has offered to come lug cartons for me when I empty out these" she waved a hand over the five sitting on the floor and counter. "I think I'll have plenty to keep me busy...how about you?" she noticed he was carrying a file folder.

"Catherine and I are meeting Sofia out in Henderson to check up on a 419 and the boys have a DB behind Paris so we'll be out of the office for awhile, page me or call me on the cell if you need anything." he leaned over the desk and puckered his lips. Sara gave him a quick peck knowing that he wasn't always comfortable with public.

"That the best you can do for a husband that has to endure a ride out to Henderson with Catherine to meet with...Sofia?" he rolled his eyes like it was the greatest hardship in the planet... "And then, I'm walking into the unknown, I could be abducted by aliens...you know we're not that incredibly far for area 57...and then where would you be?" he was laughing as she rolled her own eyes.

"Oh please...abducted? You? They would send the Mother Ship back and drop you on your ass in the parking lot...they couldn't handle you on the planet Pluto.." she chuckled deeply.

"Excuse me Mrs. Grissom, Pluto is not a planet encase you missed the last issue of National Geographic!" he shot back, hand on his hip trying for an air of authority "And I would be an asset to any planet thank you!" his attempt at indignation was fast failing.

"Pluto was a planet for all the years I've been alive and even as long as you've been on this planet!" she shifted in her seat daring her to lob that one back at her. "You can't just wake up one day and say "Out damned planet, out of our solar system!" she waved her hand around for emphasis. "I just don't get it, it was all the way out there, at the edge of the galaxy, bothering no one and someone says 'Nope, we don't want you no more!' she looked deathly serious. Gil had a difficult time not laughing at her since she tended to take these things to heart.

"Sara, you can call it a planet if you'd like!" he tried to stop her before the conversation got more animated.

"Don't you dare patronize me Gilbert Grissom!" she looked at him and saw him wince. "Pluto was disbarred from planetary status, you know it, I know it and every American that gives a dam knows it...so don't you try to tell me differently!" she was on a roll and he knew better than to try to put an end to the conversation through discussion, instead he stood up, smiled and shook the file.

"I guess I should see about our 419, I'll be back as soon as possible, good luck with all this work." he looked around and quickly gave her yet another kiss, this one a little more lingering and she relished the softness of his lips as always. "Love you Baby but the dead wait for no man." he laughed then quickly high tailed it out of her office. Sara sat there with a satisfied smirk and then got up and got to work.

Catherine was sitting in the Denali when he got to the parking lot. "Well it's about damned time, I've been waiting for 20 minutes...you get sucked into another meeting with Ecklie?" she turned her head and waited for him to fasten his seatbelt.

"I wish..." he rolled his eyes, popped open the file and read off the address.

"Sara?" Catherine knew how hectic their schedule was about to become and it had been her suggestion to Ecklie that Sara could be of better use in the lab doing exactly what she was now in charge of. "Let me guess, the earth's axis is off kilter and..." Gil laughed, surprised at how close Catherine was to the topic he'd just left.

"No, Pluto was disbarred from being a planet!" he tried to maintain an air of utter seriousness and both of them exchanged glances then cracked up laughing.

"You're kidding right?" She turned the key in the ignition and started driving away from the lab toward Henderson but not before giving him yet another quizzical glance.

"About the status of Pluto or the conversation?" he shrugged then opened the file. "From what Sofia said when she called, the DB is an Executive with Southwest International, he was in town for a month upgrading systems at McCarren and didn't have any known enemies, his wife and two children are back in Chicago, didn't want to relocate them for such a short time since the kids are both in private school. She ran his license and he hasn't had much more than a few traffic stops, no history of problems. Brass has someone on the CPD going out to question the wife." he ran down what he knew about the case as they drove.

Catherine rolled the information around in her head. "Why is it every time an executive comes to town, they wind up dying here?" she flipped the radio on to fill the void of silence that usually accompanied her trips with Gil.

"Usually there's more to it than them coming to town to do their job." he didn't look up and didn't comment on her choice of radio stations but it was apparent she'd been spending too much time with Nick Stokes when Carrie Underwood started singing about Cheating.. "I've found that the loving husband usually comes to town leaving the Mrs. behind because he has more than corporate meetings on the agenda, usually his secretary has managed to slip in a few sick days that conveniently coincided with her boss' out of town trip."

"My aren't you the skeptical one these days...is that what happened when you went on your sabbatical?" She meant it as a joke but Gil's eyebrow and frown told her he wasn't following her line of thinking.

"No Catherine, I went to teach, I left here because I was close to burn out nothing more, nothing less" he never wanted her to assume he left because of his relationship with Sara or the team it had been him and the day to day grind of watching what one human could do to another. "I would never cheat on Sara, never have and never will!" he gave her one final look and a shake of his head before he changed the radio station himself. Catherine wisely kept her mouth shut for the rest of the ride.

When they arrived, they were met by a representative of Southwest who gave them the jacket on Jeffrey Clayton. "I don't know what to say" the teary eyed blond wiped away at the tears that had her mascara spread around swollen red eyes. "Jeffrey...Mr. Clayton was a real asset to the company, we're going to miss him!" she pulled a piece of well used tissued from her pocket and dabbed at her nose. "I can't imagine what might have happened to him, I came here to pick him up..."

"Does he come here often?" Gil slipped on a pair of rubber gloves and turned to the woman..."Miss?" he waited for her to introduce herself.

"Harwood...Polly Harwood" she reached out a hand to formally shake his but realized with the rubber gloves he probably wasn't going to take hers. "Sorry...corporate policy, meet people head on, shake hands, make eye contact..." she smiled slightly before the tears resumed. "I've worked with Jeff for 10 years...he would come to town whenever something needed to be brought up to date, he was ... amazing, could figure out exactly what the bugs were in the systems and then straighten them out in a day or two, everyone depended on him." sniffed "United International has tried for years to get him away..you know...big corporate versus the little guy...but Jeff didn't want to get involved after their financial difficulties..." she motioned for them to come inside the two story cookie cutter house where the police officer and Sophia were waiting. "This house is owned by Southwest, we put up anyone coming into Vegas. I was supposed to pick him up this morning for a meeting and when I got here, the front door was open, that's not unusual in itself because he was often running late when he was here...but when I opened the door, there was blood all over" she motioned to the large pool near the door and trailing to the back of the house. "I figured I would check to see if he was okay, he's in the kitchen...dead, he has a knife sticking out of his back..." she covered her mouth and started sobbing uncontrollably. Sophia stepped up after letting her finish her story and waved to Catherine.

"Officer Johnston, could you escort Miss Harwood outside and take her statement, get her contact information." it wasn't a question and the officer nodded then slipped his hand to Polly's arm.

"Would you come with me please?" he started to lead her out.

"Has anyone called Annie?" She pulled from the officer for a moment. "Annie Clayton is Jeff's wife...she expected him home a the end of the week, it was his 14th anniversary on Saturday..." she looked from Catherine to Gil and then at the officer. "Someone has to tell her..." she sobbed again.

"That's being handled back in Chicago Miss Harwood." Gil interjected. They got to work shortly after the woman was escorted out.

"She's awfully upset for being a coworker." Catherine opened her kit and pulled out her Nikon to take pictures., Sophia had already done the sketches she knew Gil would require and handed them over.

"Why thank you Sophia..." he smiled warmly. "Could you do me a favor, find out what you can about our dear Polly?" she nodded and pulled out her note pad.

"She's been with Southwest for 15 years, executive secretary to the owner, she's been working with our Mr. Clayton for 10 years, specifically asked for whenever he was in town from what she says. He was supposed to meet with some programmers for a new landing software but Polly stated that yesterday when they had lunch, he took a phone call from someone and sounded rather upset." she flipped the page to continue. "Apparently from what he did tell her, he found some glitches in the system and the creator was rather pissed that he wasn't willing to push the software on Southwest until he figured out what the problem was.

"Well, that would possibly eliminate her as a suspect..." he quirked an eyebrow. He reached down and pulled something from the vest pocket of the victim. It was a rather intimate picture of he and Polly in a rather seductive pose.

"How so?" Catherine leaned in for a look.

"You don't usually kill off your sugar daddy." he smiled then put the picture into a plastic evidence bag. "But on the other hand, she might could be a jilted mistress and that puts her back in the front running." he would never understand people. "But it confirms my earlier suspicions wouldn't you say Cat?" he turned to Catherine who simply nodded recalling their conversation from the ride in.

Sara had emptied her fifth box and was just about to take a break when she heard a commotion at the front desk.

"I'm sorry sir, but if you want to see Sara Sidle you're going to have to sign in at the front desk!" she could hear Judy's commanding tone.

"I want to see Sara Sidle now...tell her that it's her husband!" came the booming voice with the southern accent. "It's been 10 frigg'n years, tell her I finally found her and she can just stop running!" Judy stood there, mouth agape as Sara stepped out of the office and Ecklie stepped out of his...

"Justin...Oh My God what the hell are you doing here?" she grabbed her stomach and looked like she was going to be sick!" The man turned around and gave her a glare that would have melted steel.

"It's taken me 10 years to find you...you bitch!" he pulled out the gun before anyone had a chance to respond...

Okay...cliffhanger...and yes, I apologize, apparently I lost my mind, reposted a partial chapter and added some more to it...sorry for the problem, it seems that with everything going on in my life right now, I miss counted the chapters and reposted...ya caught me but it won't happen again...


	63. Chapter 63

Gil and Catherine had finished collecting for now and headed back to the lab oblivious to what was transpiring there.

"I can't wait to get back, I was thinking of taking Sara to dinner instead of ordering take out, she's been so bored at home lately that I like to keep her away from the house as much as possible." Catherine liked the new Gil Grissom, this one actually carried on a conversation from time to time on their long drives.

"Well I'm glad Ecklie went along with the cold case idea" she laughed as she popped her gum and smiled at Gil, it had been her idea knowing how she'd been forced to work till her due date in part because her home life was falling apart and in truth because of Eddie's problems keeping a buck in the bank. "I knew Sara would be climbing the walls if she had to stay home much longer." she sat back and yawned. "I am going to go home, take a long soak and curl up with my pillow." she cracked her back and closed her eyes.

Gil turned his attention back to driving but he couldn't help imaging what life would be like once the twins arrived. "No Lindsey today?" He shot a glance over to Catherine who shook her head but didn't open her eyes.

"Nope, she's staying at a friends house to study for her tests...I think they'll be more play then study but...I really need a break from her teenage attitude., I tell you, give me back the baby stage any day!" she muttered. Gil shot her a look and chuckled.

"You're not preparing me for anything are you Cath?" he didn't care, he'd love his kids and raise them how he and Sara saw fit. He hoped that he would always be around to help guide them into adulthood.

"Sir put the gun down" Ecklie stepped into the hallway hands up to show he wasn't armed. "We can go somewhere and talk this over." he took a step but the armed man leveled the gun toward Sara.

"The only one I want to talk to is that bitch...Sara get over here!" he motioned beside him but she stood her ground. "I said get your fucking ass over here NOW!'' he spun around looking for someone to grab or threaten.

"Justin, I am not going anywhere with you...now get the hell out of here and leave me alone!" she screamed while protecting her stomach with her hands.

"You fucking bitch, you got yourself knocked up?" he looked at her burgeoning abdomen with a look of contempt. "Who the fuck is the father?" he was waving the gun wildly and everyone ducked behind the desk or wherever they could find cover. Brass stepped out of his office from behind Justin and leveled his Glock at the younger man.

"Drop the weapon!" he hissed in a voice that Sara had never heard before. "Drop the god damned gun before I drop you" Justin moved quicker than they thought and grabbed Judy putting the barrel against her head.

"I think you better think again old man!" he sneered at Brass and everyone around them.

"Justin let her go...this isn't going to solve anything!" Sara pleaded but kept her distance, she knew Justin was dangerous but since she hadn't seem him since right before she came to Vegas, she thought he'd moved on with his life.

Catherine was stowing her purse and bag in her car when Gil told her it was okay for her to just get going and he'd sign her out. "I have this evidence to log, you're tired, just go home, I'll handle it, then Sara and I can go get something for breakfast." he smiled as he unloaded his kit and bags.

"Are you sure?" she would love nothing than to not have to see the inside of the lab yet again and when he nodded she thanked him and popped into her car. "I'll see you next shift." she adjusted her mirror and started the engine. Gil walked to the back door of the lab and shifted his load so he could manage the metal door that he knew would be unlocked. Many of the lab techs liked to come out there for lunch, a quick smoke and to talk on their cellphones between cases. Tonight was no different and he passed Wendy and Mandy sitting at the often used picnic table.

"Evening ladies...I have some stuff for you both to process, I'll come get you after I log it in." they both smiled at him. The new improved Grissom was fun to work with again as opposed to when Sara had left him and everyone ran from the mere sight or sound of his voice.

"We'll be right in Grissom" Wendy smiled excited that Gil had give her opportunity to be out in the field with Greg as her mentor. "Thanks for helping me with my status change request." she continued chatting with Mandy as they finished their carry out from the In-N-Out burger joint.

Gil continued down the corridor oblivious to what was going on until he nearly collided with Justin who was holding a gun to Judy's head.

"What the hell?" he dropped everything he was carrying and pushed Judy out of the way. "Judy get down!" he screamed as he felt a hand grab the back of his jacket. Then he heard Sara scream his name.

"Gil...Grissom...!!!!" she covered her mouth with her hand realizing immediately the mistake that now put her husband's life in jeopardy.

"Grissom is it?" he put the gun just under Gil's chin. "The amazing Professor Gilbert Grissom?" he turned to face Gil who looked first in his eyes and then over to Sara. "Ugh uh...nope, you look at me, you don't look at that bitch!" he shoved the barrel tighter to his throat. Gil swallowed slowly. "You took my wife away from me!" he snarled, inches from Gil's face. He could feel the flecks of spit that spewed from the younger man's mouth.

"Do I know you?" Gil's voice was a controlled whisper compared to the quake he felt his stomach.

"You taught a class and my wife over there went to it...next thing I know she's with you, dumped my ass cause I wasn't educated enough I guess." he pressed his finger to the trigger. "You fucked my wife you son of a bitch!" his hand shook from anger.

"Just put the gun down!" Brass still had his own gun leveled at his head and wondered if he would get off a shot without killing his best friend. "We can talk this over if you put the gun down!" Justin shook his head and continued to stare at Grissom.

"She's pregnant with your kid?" Gil refused to answer wondering if he did would this crazed lunatic turn on Sara. "I asked you a question?" the gun came up and smacked against the side of Gil's head, for a moment he saw stars and could smell the scent of copper as it split his temple open. "I want an answer you bastard!" he put the gun back as Brass took a step forward. "Is that bitch pregnant with your kid?" Gil slowly nodded, his head suddenly feeling like a nut in a nutcracker.

"She's my wife!" he hissed between clenched teeth.

"She was my wife...she was going to marry me before you came along...you and your higher education, your crime scene investigations...and bugs, who the hell likes bugs?" he looked at the audience he was gaining with each moment.

"Justine put the gun down and let him go" Sara took a step forward and saw a look pass over Gil's features. It was pure unadulterated fear. "Please Justin, if you ever loved me, let him go now!" she had tears streaming down her face.

"Sara stay back!" Ecklie wrapped an arm around her and pulled her back toward himself. "Just let him go and we'll talk this out!" he commanded hoping not to piss the gunman off further.

"You took away the only good thing in my life!" he hissed in Gil's ear., Now I'm going to repay that Bitch for following you..." his finger grazed the trigger yet again. "Say goodbye Gil Grissom!" he moved the gun up against his throat once again.

"Justin don't!" Sara screamed trying to free herself from Ecklie's grasp. "Don't do this...you know about my past...you know about my Mother...why would you do this to me?" those in the hallway looked at each other but held their breaths. "You say you loved me but you were no better than my father...you used to come home drunk and beat me!" Gil looked at the man and back toward Sara. So much of what he remembered flooded his mind. The time she'd showed up for class with sunglasses on and refused to remove them. The hesitance she showed about going out in public, always looking over her shoulder. Gil hadn't understood it and with time had forgotten all about that part of their past and the fact that Sara had once claimed to be stalked right before she left California. It all started to make sense. How she's shown up to several of his lectures in long sleeved shirts or sweaters when the weather dictated they were overkill.

"You stole my wife!" he turned toward Grissom "Get on your knees you son of a bitch!" he put the gun to Gil's temple as he watched the older man lower himself slowly to the ground. "What she saw in an old man is beyond me, I could have given her the world!" his voice raised in crescendo "but you came along with all you fancy shmancy stuff and that was it, she was willing to follow you anywhere. All I heard was Grissom this, Grissom that...Gil this and Gil that!" he was screaming now and Gil swallowed without looking up at Sara.

"Justin please" she was crying now...and moved forward only stopping when Ecklie refused to release her arm. "Please don't do this, he's my life...please I'm begging you don't do this..." she stood hands open toward him, palms up. "I'm begging you for God sake don't put me through this again...don't take away the only man I've ever really loved!" she didn't care who heard her confession.

"How long Sara? How long before you fell into his bed?" Sara looked at Gil who was crying himself. "you were the best thing in my life, you gave me hope to be better than my own father and then he came along" he smacked Gil yet again and heard Sara yelp and saw her cover her mouth. "How long?" he needed confirmation of his own beliefs.

"It wasn't like that Justin, we had coffee, shared a few laughs...but it wasn't like you think!" she felt a twinge in her abdomen and quickly brought her hand to her belly. "Ohhhhhhhh God...no, not now..." she felt nausea creeping in. "please...let my husband go.." she fought the pain radiating through her stomach..."Please, you won't be any better than either of our parents if you do this!" he turned toward Grissom again.

"You took my wife...you fucked her and look at her..." he waved the gun again and before anyone had a moment to think, a single shot rang out that whizzed over Gil's head catching the unsuspecting man near his heart. He dropped before he could get out another word.


	64. Chapter 64

A/N: You all rock! The reviews I got on the last two chapters simply knocked my socks off, I felt you deserved a longer chapter for that and a bit of an outcome on the goings on...not to say there won't be more repercussions from this but right now...just read, enjoy and thank you all again. I'm sure with Dad's surgery tomorrow lasting 6 or so hours and the wait before hand, I'll get a few chapters done but for now, just enjoy!!!

Disclaimer: Sue me, I'm taking Grissom home with me, and Billy too...oh wait, he's one and the same...can't a girl dream?

The shot was a one in a millions shot, she wasn't thinking, couldn't think about the possibility of hitting Gil if he moved or stood up, her only thought was that someone had a gun to one of her best friend's head, that he was getting more and more agitated by the moment and he was refusing to back down with two guns already drawn on him. Thank God she'd forgotten the paperwork for Lindsey's field trip.

She'd watched the goings on for 5 minutes while she contemplated her best course of action. Knowing that usually Brass was able to talk a suspect down, she'd hoped that this time would be no different but as the minutes ticked by, she quickly surmised that this time wasn't going to be one of those times. She silently dropped her purse and keys and pulled her weapon from the holster on her hip. She prayed to God that he was distracted enough not to hear her chamber a round. She took a stance similar to what she'd been trained in the academy took aim, said a silent prayer and squeezed off the shot. The gunman went down with the first shot and you could have heard a pin drop.

Gil stayed where he was, frozen in the moment between having a gun to his head, hearing a shot, and seeing his wife in pain...but the thought that this man claimed that Sara was his wife, then stated she was supposed to marry him, that Gil had been the reason she left him. The comment about him being a Professor and stealing his wife, his woman, his intended were indelibly etched in his mind right now ...he hung his head unable to respond to the moment. Sara stood clutching her abdomen in the arms of Conrad Ecklie, Brass had flown over and not only pushed the gunman's dead body away from Gil but had disarmed him and was handing the gun off to Bobbie.

"Process this, we need to know everything about this guy!" he pulled out a wallet with Id's and tossed it to Greg who had come out of the lab when everything was going down. "I want to know if he has so much as a public indecency violation!" his works were short and terse. He then turned his attention to Sara.

"Cookie, are you okay?" She hissed through the pain and looked from him to Gil who has still not moved from the kneeling position he'd been put in. She motioned for Jim to concentrate on Gil. Conrad slowly walked her to Gil's office and helped her lay on the leather sofa. Techs brought him the blankets he quickly ordered and a pillow followed by a quick phone call to 911 to get her to the hospital and have her checked out.

"I'll be right back, I need to check on Grissom.." he touched her arm softly and walked out leaving Mandy to keep her company.

"Tell me Mandy, is he okay? Gil? He didn't move, he didn't get hurt did he?" Mandy reached her head around the door and saw Gil now sitting on the floor surrounded by Ecklie, Brass, Warrick and Catherine who was kneeling down in front of him talking softly.

"He looks like he's in shock!" was all she could make out at the moment. "He hasn't moved but it doesn't look like he's physically hurt Sara...just you worry about you and the babies, he's in good hands out there, Catherine's with him." She came back and sat on the arm of the sofa. "Can I get you anything?" Sara shook her head and rubbed her abdomen absentmindedly.

"No, I just want to know that my husband is okay" tears threatened to spill forth again. "And my babies...I just want them all to be okay...I'm worried about Gil, why isn't he in here yet?" she looked pleadingly at Mandy.

"He's okay...he's okay Sara, take a deep breath" She slid behind Sara and rested her head on her lap. Gently she ran her hand over Sara's hair to reassure her. "Brass will take care of Grissom but if anything happens to you or the babies..." it was a statement she didn't have to continue.

A few minutes passed and Sara asked Mandy to help her to the washroom. "Sara I don't think that's such a good idea." she wanted to help but was worried about her friend.

"Well if you don't, I'm going to pee on Gil's sofa and that in itself isn't such a hot idea, besides, I need to know if I'm bleeding or anything." It made sense at that point and Mandy helped her up, walked her to the restroom and waited outside the stall until she finished.

"Anything Sara?" she bit her bottom lip nervously.

"No...nothing, not bleeding thank God!" she gave a deep relieved sigh. "I'll just go lay back down, hopefully Gil will come in shortly and we can put this day behind us." she came out, washed her hands and looked again at her wedding rings. "I can't believe this happened." she looked up at Mandy who smiled.

"Hey, as long as you and the babies are okay...and Grissom, that's all that matters, I'm not going to ask who that was..." she figured if Sara wanted to say anything, she had her opening but if not, it was okay as well. They slowly walked back to the office and Sara noticed that Gil was still sitting on the floor, Mandy refused to let her go over there until the paramedics checked her out. "No way, Ecklie would have my ass and right now, he's got a lot of people around him...knowing Grissom he would rather be alone right now.

Gil hadn't moved, he hadn't even bothered to respond to the paramedic that now stood before him. "Sir...are you injured?" He could clearly see the trail of blood that had leaked from the injury on his temple. Gil stared blankly at some sight on the floor and didn't appear to recognize anyone speaking to him. "Sir...can you tell me if you're injured?" Brass came over and looked at Catherine who was just stood there stunned.

"Gil...Grissom!" Brass waved his hand in front of the man's face and got no response. "Gilbert Grissom!" he shook him and slowly Gil turned his face upward to look at Jim but he really didn't seem to see him. "Come on Gil, Sara needs you, and you both need to be checked out, that head wound looks nasty..." he hoisted the man to his feet with an assist from the paramedic. Gil stood momentarily and looked around then he did something that surprised everyone...he turned looked at Brass and shook his head.

"She doesn't need me...she needs someone...but I can't help her..." his voice was barely above a whisper but Brass and Catherine heard him before he turned away and walked unsteadily toward the men's restroom. Catherine stood, gun still in her hand looking between Brass, Ecklie and the corridor in which Gil just walked down.

"Jim...you'd better go after him!" she knew that someone had to and if anyone could talk sense into Grissom right now, it would be Brass. Jim was torn between following Gil and checking on Sara but he knew, if he walked into that office, she'd have questions that he couldn't answer and the first would be where and how was Gil...he opted to follow his friend. Grissom walked into the restroom, slammed open the door of the third stall and sat down heavily slamming and locking the door behind him. He put his head in his hands and the tears came. '_Husband? I stole someone's wife? He said it she was his wife...no, he said they were going to be married...They were together and I broke them up...I caused...no, he beat her, Sara said he was no better than her Father...' _But he couldn't' get the fact that a man was dead because he blamed Grissom for being the other man. He sat there in tears knowing that he was of little help to Sara right now, he couldn't tell if he was angry at himself, upset that she didn't tell him about Justin….or what but right now he knew he could not face her and so he sat wiping and wiping the tears away. It was then that he heard the door open.

"Grissom…." Brass banged on the door reminiscent of his days on the streets. "Gilbert Grissom I don't know what the hell is wrong with you right now but if you don't get your ass up and get your shit together, I'm going to rip the fucking door off it's hinges and kick your ass!" he bellowed and didn't care who heard him. A tech walked in just as his tirade started and quickly backed out excusing himself without a word. "I mean it Gil, get your fucking ass out here" he kicked at the door and heard the hinges squeal in protest. "Now, dam it Grissom your wife is in your office possibly losing her….your" he corrected instantly "children, if you can't help her you better grow balls enough to walk in that office, tell her the way it is and then be willing to walk out of her life forever!" he kicked at the door again and the hinges gave way. The door tottered slightly before it fell off onto the floor, thankfully outside the stall and Gil sat their wide eyed.

"Brass you don't……" he stuttered for an explanation.

"I don't understand? I've had a fucking gun pointed at me, hell I had the God damned thing go off, remember?" he pulled down the collar of his shirt and showed one of the scars. "I lived because you wanted me to….because you made the right decision!" he wanted Gil to know he had no regrets about giving him Power of Attorney or how he had used it. "You were a victim today, you can't help what one totally fucked up asshole decided to do today but Gil, you survived just like me, you had someone looking out for you and you survived." He knelt down in front of Gil and poked a finger at him. "Now you need to get your shit together and help your wife…she's innocent in all of this!" Gil looked up about to say something but Brass shot him a warning. "If you're stupid enough to listen to the ramblings of an obsessive son of a bitch that obviously beat Sara at some point in time then claims to love her?" he shook his head "Then buddy, you're in worse shape than he was!" he stood up and stepped back toward the sink. Leaning a hip against it, arms crossed over his chest he waited for some kind of response from Grissom.

"He said I was the other man" he stood slowly "He said I stole Sara away from him?" Gil couldn't seem to process any other thought right now. "I never wanted to be the other man…." He looked heartbroken. "I was a professor; I should have had better control…..I … "he looked lost, totally and inexplicably lost.

"You fell in love Gilbert Grissom….plain and simple, you can't tell your heart what is right and wrong in that department." He weighed his words carefully. "If you believe now that you were wrong, then you believe what you have now with Sara is wrong!" He had to make his best friend see that nothing was as the gunman had claimed. Gil shook his head. "You have one of the greatest women I've ever known madly in love with you. To have that kind of love, to have someone put up with the shit you dished out over the years and still be madly in love with you is something you had better not take for granted, it's a once in a lifetime love and you got it buddy boy….plain and simple, that woman worships the ground you walk on…why is beyond me most days but she does and you should get down on your God damned knees and thank the Lord for that!" he saw Gil look at him and smile. It was the first time since the entire incident went down. "Now how about we go check on your family?" he put an arm behind Gil's shoulder and led him out of the restroom.

Sara was on the sofa, Mandy sitting with her head on her lap as they monitored her vitals. Gil walked in and Mandy proceeded to slip from where she had been sitting and allow Gil to change places with her.

"Hi" She looked up into his eyes and reached up with her free hand. "I'm so sorry Gilbert, I never thought he'd come back…..." she looked about to cry and Gil smiled at her.

"It's okay…it's over…he can't hurt you anymore…..no one will ever hurt you gain…" he took her hand in his and pressed it to his lips. "I'm only sorry I couldn't protect you…" he kissed her hand again and she looked up at him.

"You did nothing wrong Gilbert, you could have been killed today…." She looked at the paramedic who had placed monitors on her belly. "Would someone tell me what's going on now?" she wanted assurance that her children were okay.

"Well, how are you feeling right now?" the young man read the paper strip that came off the machine he'd hooked her to. '"Are you getting anymore contractions?" Sara shook her head. "When did they stop?"

"They stopped about five minutes after I laid down." She smiled. "There hasn't been a single one since, no cramping, and I went to the washroom and there was no blood or anything." She hoped to avoid a trip to the hospital. "I think it was just the stress of the situation." She looked up at Gil and tried to reassure him as well. "Every thing's okay now…do you think I have to go to the hospital?" the paramedic knew she was trying to avoid a trip as well.

"Why don't you let me talk to the ER doctor, tell him what I find on the monitors and let him decide, if he says you're okay to skip it, I would still recommend that you see your OB tomorrow." She nodded quickly in agreement. She just wanted to be done with the entire issue as soon as possible. The paramedic got up and placed a call on his cell phone. He wandered to the other side of Gil's office, read off vitals and then the strip he had printed off. He smiled about fifteen minutes later as he came and knelt down beside the sofa. "Doc said you got lucky, no apparent miscarriage here and from what I can tell, the baby's heartbeats are good and strong, I would still advice a follow up with your regular OB tomorrow though but today why don't you just get some rest?" he quickly packed up his equipment, patted her on the shoulder and started to walk out. "And you sir, are you okay?" he looked at Gil.

"I'm okay…..now….thank you!" he looked up slightly embarrassed by how he had reacted earlier. The paramedic stopped and turned. "Before I go let me clean and dress that head wound" he quickly unpacked his stuff and cleaned the area best he could "I think you might need a stitch or two here" he saw Gil wince as he applied some peroxide to the cut. "It's pretty deep and you don't know where that gun was before." He gently pressed gauze to the area and tapped it in place. "If you haven't had a tetanus shot in the last 10 years, you might want to have that updated as well." He stood up and packed things away before he was ready to go. Gil thanked him for taking care of both himself and Sara.

"If it had been me with a gun pointed to my head, I'd have pissed my pants….I think you were pretty damned brave myself!" he shook his head and walked away without waiting for a response. Gil looked guiltily from Brass to Sara and then saw Ecklie in the doorway.

"Conrad, I'd like to take Sara home if that's okay…..we'll answer any questions you have…" Ecklie held up his hand but Gil continued "I'll drop her off and come back, I know I have some paperwork…" but Conrad stopped him again.

"You'll take your wife home but please, stop at the hospital on the way and get that stitched it's starting to bleed again. Then I would get her checked out tomorrow and take a few days off, both of you." He smiled at Sara "I'm making that an order Grissom!" he wasn't about to let the man off the hook right now. "I can have Brass and Nick or Warrick stop by later and take any statements if they're even needed." He started to exit the room and Sara tried to sit up.

"Conrad, thank you…for everything you did." She leaned against Gil and sighed. "I'd like someone to get Catherine for me if you would?" she looked at everyone gathered in the doorway. Mandy nodded and quickly went off in search of Willows. It was a free for all in the corridor with Nick taking photos, David waiting to collect the body and the entire lab standing around chatting with each other waiting to hear the outcome of the day.

She found Catherine giving her statement to the Under Sheriff while Warrick Brown stood with an arm around her waist.

"Do you feel you might have used excessive force?" Catherine stood with her mouth agape.

"No, he had a gun to Gil's head and his finger on the trigger, with each passing moment he was getting more and more agitated and I had a clear shot, Brass and Ecklie tried to talk him down but he was having none of it and if you check on Gil, you'll see that he was pistol whipped twice to the temple.

"Did you ascertain that you had a clear shot before firing?" Catherine knew it was protocol to ask these questions but she didn't like the Under Sheriff on most days and it seemed he was looking for minute details to nit pick about.

"I did, I would never risk Grissom's or anyone's life in a situation like that." She looked at Warrick who was close to saying something and she tightened her grip on his arm. "I realize you're doing your job right now but I really would like to check on my teammates if you'd give me five minutes?" The Under Sheriff nodded and saw Brass approaching.

"I'll get Jim's statement and then we can see if I need anything else form you Miss Willows" he sneered and Catherine felt a sudden need to take a shower. She hurried over to where Mandy was motioning to her.

"How is Sara?" she was genuinely concerned for both Sara and the babies.

"She's okay, the contractions stopped right after she was settled in Grissom's office, the paramedic checked her out, no bleeding, and no signs of a miscarriage at this point, and he released her with the promise of seeing her OB tomorrow. Grissom has a nasty cut to the temple, the paramedic told him he thought it might need to be stitched, Brass is having Greg and Nick drive them both to the hospital just precautionary at this point." She followed the Senior CSI down the hall as she listed what she knew.

Sara and Gil were both sitting on the sofa when she came in and knelt before them. "How are you?" she looked from one to the other. "How are the contractions?" Sara smiled and rubbed her belly. "Gil are you okay?" she reached up and turned his head with a gentle hand under his chin, she saw him flinch and realized he had a nasty bruise coming up there from the muzzle of the gun. "You're going to look like shit tomorrow" she teased lightly and Gil smiled. "You doing okay?" she didn't want Sara to known anymore than he was willing to let on about what had happened in the corridor. Gil nodded slightly embarrassed that she had seen him during a moment of weakness.

"I'm okay….now…" he looked up and touched her hand. "How do I think you Catherine?" his voice was a mere whisper. "How did you know?" Catherine smiled.

"I forgot Lindsey's paperwork for a trip, when I came in I heard what was going on….I only did what anyone would have!" she didn't want congratulations, it was something that needed to be done, pure and simple. A man died at her hands but she wouldn't have traded that moment, it meant her best friend was alive, he would see the birth of his children and be with the woman he worked so hard to love…and that was all the thanks she would ever need. "It was nothing Grissom, just another day in the office." She winked and stood up. "Now, will you two slackers go get his head checked and go home?" she dismissed them with a quick wave of her hand and went to meet Warrick. She needed to get her head together before she finished her statement of she was sure the Under Sheriff just might be missing his by the time they were done.


	65. Chapter 65

A/N: Dad did amazingly well with the surgery, the clip went onto his mitral valve as planned and the doctor was very happy with the outcome, so I'm giving you a chapter tonight done between running around the hospital, lugging my computer, unable to hook up to internet...etc. Because of everyone here, I am able to continue keeping my spirits up by writing, the reviews have been phenomenal and I can't thank you all enough. Am I don't causing our couple grief? Who knows...we know their lives can't always be smooth sailing...so enjoy.

The drive home was spent in momentary quiet as he opened her door. Allowing her to get situated, she slipped the seatbelt in place, her purse between her feet and sat back. Gil waited before he closed the door and slowly made his way around the front of the Denali. Sara watched his face closely for signs of anything he might be thinking or feeling. He slipped his sunglasses in place, a sure sign that he wasn't going to be talking anytime soon. He got in, switched on the ignition and then turned on the radio. Sara reached over his hand and immediately clicked it off.

"Talk to me Gil!" she said it more as a command then a request. Gil looked at her a moment behind dark glasses, shook his head and then continued driving. "No...you have something to say, I can read you like a book, pull over have your say and let's be done with it!" she waited but he showed no indication of slowing down the vehicle. "Dammit Gil, you haven't said so much as two words to me since they checked me out and stitched your temple." still nothing was forthcoming.

Gil wanted to say something common sense or the very real fear of putting his foot in his mouth kept him from starting a conversation he wasn't ready to get into at the moment so he kept quiet.

"If you think your silence is going to sooth me, calm my nerves you can just forget it Grissom!" the use of his last name always forebode a difficult time between them. "You are going to talk to me or the first red light you get to, pull over and let me out!" she reached for the handle of the door and her purse with her free hand. Gil knew immediately that she was not fooling around. "You talk to me or you let me out of this vehicle Now!" her voice was raised a bit louder.

"What do you want me to say Sara?" his tone was full of defeat and something she couldn't quite put her finger on. "Would you have me tell you how I almost watched my world disappear today? I almost lost my own life? A friend killed someone to save me? What would you have me say?" a million thoughts ran through his head but none of them would have comforted her at the moment. "Perhaps you want to hear how I lost it in the corridor, how Brass had to follow me to the restroom because for a moment, I wished none of this" his hand waved around them in the air "was happening to me right now?" he saw her swallow, heard her gasp. "I walk into a situation and I hear a man tell me I stole his wife..."

"We weren't married..." She huffed a reply "For the last damned time, We...Were...Not...Married...nor were we ever going to get married., I was trying to get away from him long before you showed up and I'll admit, you certainly made it easier..." she saw his stunned look "To pack it in and get away from him." she continued.

"And that I was a Professor and should have known better than to take advantage of my student." He had a point to make, he just didn't know if it was to her or himself.

"He had no room to talk!" She sounded incredulous. "What he did to me was much worse than if I had dumped him and ran away with...but that wasn't the case., come off it Grissom '_the last name again...not going good right now!' _"I know damned well that a blind man would have seen the bruises, the dark glasses, the sudden need for makeup."

"And that I was the other man, that I was the reason you walked away from him." he continued between her words. "How do you think that makes me feel?" she knew that the question of his position, both when he was teaching and when he was her supervisor had kept them apart. Sara didn't know what to make of the conversation. She reached over and put her hand on his arm but he pulled away.

"Listen to me right now...first of all pull over!"

"Not if you intend to get out of this vehicle!"

"If I wasn't pregnant, I'd show you how quickly you'd be stopping this truck Grissom!"

"I want your word that you'll stay in the truck!" he cast a glance in her direction this time.

"You want my word?" She dropped her jaw for a moment. "I'm giving you my word, you were NOT the other man, you were NOT stealing me from him...you were NOT to blame for me leaving him." she felt the vehicle slow to a stop and then he put it in park. "Tell me something Grissom" she waited for him to look at her again. "How long you going to live with this guilt?" she waited patiently for some kind of response.

"What are you talking about?" He had so much hidden he wasn't about to hand her another card for her 'deck' she was stacking against him. "What guilt?" he couldn't look at her, he knew his eyes would give him away and he knew if he did, she'd insist he remove the dark shades that covered those eyes.

"Do you need a refresher list?" her tone told him this wasn't going to be a conversation that was easily dropped.

"Apparently I do!" he wasn't giving an inch.

"Okay, let's see" she unbuckled her seatbelt and sat back "I'm am sooooo much older than you Sara!" she held up the first finger. "It's against the rules Sara!" finger number two. "I'm your Professor..Sara!" finger three. "I'm not sure what to do about this Sara!" finger four." Gil stared at her without so much as a response but from the set of his jaw she knew she was getting to him. "Shall I continue Grissom?"

"Why the hell not, you apparently are on a roll!" his voice crackled with anger.

"Let's go for the two toppers...Natalie shouldn't have gotten you, it was me she should have taken!" another finger with a finishing statement "Get over Grissom she didn't want you, she wanted to hurt you, in order to do that, she chose me...I survived!" she crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh and lets not forget..."I couldn't do it!" she turned back to the front of the vehicle and refused to look at him at all. When she heard the intake she realized that he had never known she'd overheard his confession to Lurie but he sure and hell knew now.

"Sara..." he didn't know what to say...he had hurt her over and over, it was apparent that any guilt he carried was because he wouldn't allow himself to drop the load, not because she held it over his head. "I never knew!" tears came to his eyes but instead of continuing, he shifted the Denali into drive again and headed toward their home.

"You didn't know because I didn't tell you!" she touched his arm again but this time he didn't pull away. She did feel the muscles tighten under her caress but she held her ground. "I figured you had enough on your plate but most of all, after you decided I was worth the risk I didn't think it was important anymore." she bit her lip and held her breath.

"Sara...you were always worth the risk, I was just too stupid, scared and insecure to admit it." he took his hand off the steering wheel and grasped her hand in his.

"Gil, don't you see, you don't have to carry guilt around with you. Yes we broke the rules when we got together, would you change it now knowing how it worked out?" he shook his head. "Besides the rules were antiquated and stupid and we proved that two people can have a relationship and continue to uphold their own standards to their job!" she smiled when he nodded. "You were my professor sure but I wasn't an innocent teenager Gilbert, I was an adult, capable of choosing who I wanted in my life...and I chose you!" she reached up and caressed his cheek, he smiled softly. "Natalie only wins if we let her, I thought we decided not to let that happen?" he shook his head in agreement. And although I was more than sure my heart couldn't break anymore after hearing the confession to Lurie, you shutting me out because of any doubts you have now hurts me far worse...so don't do that anymore okay?" he picked up her hand, brought it to his lips and placed a kiss in the palm then closed her hand over it.

"I'm sorry Sara...for today, for all the times I hurt you, for all the times I made you doubt my love..." she squeezed his thigh with her hand and grinned.

"I accept all your apologies Grissom and after today, I...we... won't speak of any of this again, but if you have even a little doubt left, I want it out in the open today...because I won't live with ifs, mights and maybes...do you understand that?" she gave him a chance to say anything but instead he pulled into their driveway, parked the vehicle and got out. Sara watched him through the window as he came around her side of the Denali and opened her door. He reached out a hand and helped her out then quickly wrapped both arms around her. She felt him sob against her neck and she simply tightened her hold on him.

"I'm sorry Sara, I could have lost you and the babies...it made me realize that I'm nothing without you., when I was kneeling on the floor, it didn't matter that he was going to kill me, I didn't want you to have to witness someone else in your life die in front of your eyes. I just kept thinking about how much time I wasted and then he said I took you away, I knew back then you were unhappy and I remember you coming in wearing a sweater and makeup but I saw the bruises and wondered why such an incredibly strong woman such as yourself would let someone do that to them...I didn't know about your past, your Mother and Father back then...and I didn't understand...but in a way, I've hurt you so much worse than fists and hands...and all I can say is I'm sorry...I'm honestly sorry for all those times." She pulled back so she could look into his ocean blue eyes.

"It's the past...Gilbert, let's leave the past to the past...we have learned so much from it, but it's time to let the past go, how about we agree to look to the future. We have each other, two beautiful lives growing inside of me, my heart is full of love for you and these little bundles" her hand caressed her belly and he put his hand on top of it.

"I like that idea..." he kissed her then hugged her once again. She reached up to caress his face and accidentally hit the area that had been stitched. When she saw him wince she tried not to laugh.

"I'm sorry Baby, I didn't mean to touch your sore spot!" she giggled "Do you need me to kiss it better?" she recalled another time a conversation wound up going in this direction. Gil apparently did as well when the salacious look came over him.

"Oh I am hurting in more than just this area" he smiled slyly and pulled her into the front door where he decided to pin her up against the wall and lay one on her like he really meant it.


	66. Chapter 66

The visit to the OB went off without a hitch, Sara had finally caught up on weight gain that was appropriate to not only her size but where she was in regards to her pregnancy. It was going to mean yet another trip to the store and try as she might, she knew that eventually she would have to cave in and buy some maternity wear. Gil had bought her a top, while she tried it on and thought it was cute, she hesitated to show off her condition. It wasn't because she was unhappy about it but because she was resisting the changes to her body. Already her back hurt by the end of shift, her feet were constantly swelling and she had been forced to change to flats that she could slip on. She was finding herself top heavy and had almost teetered over while picking up one of the socks Bruno had managed to get his jaws wrapped around.

"Come on, you can't possibly think that you'll be able to wear your regular clothes throughout the pregnancy." Gil had meant it as encouragement but instead, Sara had burst into an uncontrollable crying jag and walked away from him. When she ran into Catherine, she had managed between strangled sobs to tell her that her husband had called her fat.

"He..._sob_...said...he said..._sob_...that I could..._sob_...fit...I couldn't expect to fit..._sob_...he called me fat!" she wailed against her friends shoulder. Catherine had patted her back while swearing to behead Grissom if she saw him before he had a chance to escape into the field or in some meeting. She realized that Sara probably has simply misunderstood her husband's usual dense ability to convey what he really meant vs what came out of his mouth.

"He didn't mean anything by it Honey, it was probably just a slip of the tongue, you know how dense men can be at times like these." she handed her a box of tissues and hugged her again "especially Gil when he means one thing and says another and usually the wrong thing!" they both kind of chuckled at that. "He's Grissom...what do you expect?" Sara felt better after having talked to Catherine who had agreed to take her shopping and give her an honest opinion of how each item looked on her changing figure. After she had back to her office, Catherine went in search of Gil and was counting slowly as she paced through the halls. She finally found him in Autopsy with Al Robbins going over some inconsistencies that they found with a cause of death on his 419.

"Catherine, what drags you down here?" Al looked up, flipped his protective face mask up and grinned warmly.

"Actually Al, I was looking for Grissom!" The tone of her voice was a hefty tip off that Al wasn't going to stick around for this conversation even though whenever Catherine was in the mood their tone implied, the outcome was usually Grissom stumbling over his words, Catherine just about ready to pull her hair out and Al having to stuff something in his mouth to keep from falling down laughing. "Ah, there's the culprit now!" she sneered telling Al it was high time for him to high tail it out of his own work environment.

"What can I do for you Catherine?" he looked innocent at the moment.

"You can start with telling me why you would insinuate that your wife if fat?" She knew the minute it came out that once again it had been either a misunderstanding or once again, he'd opened mouth, inserted foot.

"I...I didn't say she was ... Catherine why would you think? What the hell did she say?" he stuttered and stood there with his hands waving wildly. "I suggested...no, I mentioned that we should consider going shopping for maternity wear but Jesus Cath, she was bitching for an hour last night that nothing fits, that she can't get into her 'skinny jeans' what the hell are skinny jeans? Men have jeans, good old fashioned denim blue jeans but women, they have their party jeans, their fat jeans and now their god damned skinny jeans...what's the story with that?" he actually had started asking Al if he had ever dealt with such inane problems but Catherine had cut that conversation short. "I wanted to treat her to some new clothes, I mean...it's time isn't it? She's not embarrassed by being pregnant is she?" he honestly was lost when it came to women and instead of it getting easier, her moods, her hormones had her going off at the slightest thing. "She was in tears last night because the dog turned his nose up at some dish she spent an hour creating but geez, I told her the dog is a natural carnivore, you can't get upset because he doesn't want to be a vegetarian...ya know what she said?" he seemed incredulous, "She started crying, pulled my plate out from under my nose and started yelling at me.."Then she dumped my entire dinner in the trash compactor., fork, plate and all!"

_He'd gotten up to eat dinner with her, she had been busy making a new vegetarian dish while he was sleeping and when he awoke, it was to a fully set table, complete with linen napkins, wine glass and the whole shebang...he'd been quite impressed and had told her so. That was his first mistake. _

_"You act like I never make you dinner...!" her hands shot to her hips as she glared over the pot she was slowly stirring. "I do work ya know, I don't have time to always whip up something but I do try ya know..!" he shut up and sat down knowing that if he asked if she needed any help, she'd probably tell him she was quite capable of handling a kitchen by herself. Taking a sip of the wine she had poured, it became apparent that he had moved on to mistake number two "You could at least wait until the food is on the table before you start tossing them back!" he gently put his glass on the table and tucked his hands on his lap. Mistake number three came right after that. "Do you expect me to do everything? For God sakes Gil, I'm sure your Mother didn't wait on you hand and foot, you could take the garlic bread out of the oven or something!" He got up, walked to the stove and onto mistake number four. "You are so not using my new potholder..there are perfectly good ones under the cabinet. "You men seem to think those things grow on trees, you ruined two of my last set." Gil smiled and gently placed the cookie sheet with the garlic bread on the burner. _

_"Where would you like this?" he didn't know if she had a prepared basket for it, wanted him to put it on their plates and figured she would direct him...Mistake number five! _

_"We're eating at the table right? So wouldn't it make sense to put the bread on the table?" he rolled his eyes and signed...Mistake number six! "If you have something to say..." He backed up, hands in surrender. "Well don't just stand there rolling your eyes at me, you think I don't see it? I do ya know, and it hurts my feelings that you obviously have something to say and won't just open your mouth!" Gil was at a total loss to make her happy and simply put the bread on the table and thanked the God's above when his pager went off. _

_"I'll be right back, I have to take this..." it was Ecklie but even now, he was a saving grace as opposed to the usual thorn in his side that he could be. He would gladly take ten decomps if it meant getting him out of the house at this very minute!_

"Catherine, it's been like that...then the topper was the dog, she sat on the floor crying how the dog didn't appreciate anything she did, how it was all to much to deal with and that the person, meaning me, that she thought would understand her is making her want to tear out her hair." he blew out a breath. "I never even got to finished dinner that went down the trash compactor. So anyway I offered to clean up the dishes...that went over huge."

"_What? Now I'm incapable of cleaning my own house?" She was sobbing again and although he wanted to, he knew if he tried to comfort her right now, he might wind up with a knife wound where he didn't need one._

_"I'm not saying that, you made this wonderful meal..."_

_"Oh admit it, even the damned dog wouldn't touch it!" she hissed while throwing a nasty glare at Bruno who slunk to his corner and laid with his head buried in his paws. _

_"It was fi...good, really good...you did a good job for your first time..." oh his mistakes were piling up now._

_"My first time? I'll have you know I've made variations of this dish and you never complained or were you simply trying to placate me?" she tossed the dish back in the sink, thank God it was plastic, and the towel on the counter before she stomped upstairs and away from him. She had locked herself in the bathroom when he went up to dress for work forcing him to try to shave with an electric razor because he couldn't get to anything he needed in their bathroom._

"I think I need nerve pills!" He leaned heavily against one of the tables that Al had cleaned off. "I swear Catherine, I don't remember you being this erratic in your behavior when you were pregnant with Lindsey!" he honestly had no clue what to do at this point. "And there are 5 more months of this...it's only going to get worse isn't it?" he was pleading for her to tell him it would get better but knowing how Sara had been lately, she wasn't holding out much hope.

"Gil, all I can tell you is right now, you're walking on eggshells, I know...just try to support her." she shrugged. "By the way, I'm taking your wife shopping for some maternity clothes after work tomorrow so you're off the hook but just watch what or how you say something...she's really really touchy right now." she walked out smiling, not having informed him of anything he wasn't already aware of. Al came out two minutes after Catherine left, laughing like a hyena...and Gil gave him a furative glance.

"I'm sorry, you must have had a hell of a morning trying to escape that rampage!" he leaned over the table and clasped Gil on the back. "But all I can say to you Gilbert...better you than me!" Gil stuffed his hands in his pockets lest they find themselves locked around Al's neck.

"Thanks...listen I have to go...but thanks!" he shuffled out with his shoulders down, the weight of the world on them right now. The biggest was keeping peace in his home while keeping Sara happy and how the hell he was supposed to accomplish that was getting harder and harder to put his finger on.

He walked into his office and there she was, cleaning...sorting through his things, his shelves had been rearranged, small bottles in front, medium in the middle and the biggest being Miss Piggy the radiated fetal pig was shoved to the back. His desk had been swept clean, the cards on the 'Bass Board' where he kept the 'ones that got away' filed were neatly pinned in numerical order. Thinking he was complimenting her, he smiled softly "It looks good in here!" he leaned against his desk.

"Finger Prints!" she pushed him back, pulled out a paper towel and bottle of glass cleaner, sprayed where he had just removed his hands from and cleaned the glass top desk to a perfect shine. "I can't keep coming in here and picking up after you, this office had better stay exactly the way I cleaned it Gilbert, do you understand me?" she stood toe to toe with him.

"Yes Dear!" he was almost afraid to make eye contact with here.

"Now, I was thinking about tackling your locker!" Gil's eyes shot open and at that very moment he suddenly found himself unable to shut his mouth!

"It's my damned locker Sara, you can paint daisies on yours for all I care but that locker is mine, Stay out of it!" she moved past her but not before he saw the quivering bottom lip that was a clear omen that he had done it again!

"You know" she paced "All I'm trying to do is keep you happy and all you've done today is bitch about every little thing...is it so hard to accept change?" she stepped toward him and he took one step back. "Is it so hard to say "Sara, I love what you've done to the office, I loved breakfast, lunch or dinner." she took another step, he backed up a step. "How about, You look great Sara, you look attractive Sara" no you have to stand there with your holier than thou attitude and tell me how I no longer fit in my clothes...face it, you think I'm fat and I'm not...not...ATTRACTIVE!!!!" her wail could be heard throughout the office and Catherine came running in as the tears started to fall. Brass was close behind her.

"Sara Honey" she took Sara's hand and brought her gently to the sofa. Grissom and Brass exchanged strange looks, Gil's was the guilty "I don't know what the hell just happened" look and Brass' was along the lines of "If you upset Cookie again so help you I'll have your ass!" Gil just couldn't seem to get a break today. Catherine handed her tissue. "What's wrong? You need a break from here, come on, you can go with me, I have a simple case right now...I really would like the company on the drive..how about it?" Sara sniffled loudly, shot Gil a 'how dare you!' look and nodded.

""If...you...really want me..." she sniffed between words. Catherine nodded in assurance and pulled her up by one arm.

"I'm sure, and on the way back we can stop and pick up some of that iced coffee" she looked at Gil "the decaffeinated kind of course...that you like" she wrapped a protective arm around Sara and walked her out of the office leaving Brass and Grissom staring at each other.

"So what's the scoop Gil?" Brass pulled up a chair as Gil went behind his desk, pulled out some paper towel and put it under his arms lest he leave any smudges.

"I came in here, Sara had everything cleaned and rearranged, I'm sure I won't be able to find a single think I need and then she'll accuse me of being senile!" he put his head in his hands and signed loudly. "Was your wife like that with Ellie?" Brass sat back and started laughing.

"Only if you think ironing your boxers with extra starch was abnormal..." and Grissom simply cringed. It was going to be a very long...pregnancy...


	67. Chapter 67

Sara was having a ball. The outfits the girls had picked out were tasteful yet functional. She frowned when it came to picking maternity pants, the front panel of each stretched with a knowing hand by the lady in the quaint little shop Catherine had found.

"Trust me, when you're out to here" the woman motioned about a foot from her svelte frame. _Like she would know thought Catherine and Sara. _"You will appreciate the support yet non restrictiveness of the mesh material." she smiled warmly at the group who simply nodded in unison. Sara's eyes were huge like pie plates when she said 'out to her' but Catherine simply touched her shoulder and reassured her.

"It's a figure of speech...relax." They proceeded to pick out several outfits, a few sun dresses and even made it to a shoe store that sold some very cute slip-ons. "Those go really well with the colors you chose." Cath lifted the bags with the five pair of shoes and carried them out to the curb. "I'll just get these put away and we can head out to lunch." she was gone and back before you could bat an eye.

Wendy and Mandy were giggling at the thought of what they called 'the stick figure girl' working in the Maternity store. "That woman doesn't have a stretch mark on her body." Wendy who had a great shape if you asked David Hodges and didn't have one either thought it was funny that someone so petite would be making a statement about 'being out to here."

"Did you see Sara's face? I thought she was going to turn green when she said that." Mandy sat back "I wonder what I would look like...or feel like pregnant.." she signed brushing her hair back from her face.

"Well, all you have to do is get Texas boy naked...ride him hard, put him away wet...or would that be you that was put away wet?" she saw the shocked look on Mandy's face. "Oh come on...we both know...hell everyone in the lab knows that the two of you are an item...whens the big day?" She remembered talking to her at Sara and Gil's reception about their idea of the perfect wedding, vows and rings. Mandy's choices had all been simple compared to the elaborate affair Wendy was hoping for.

"Don't get me wrong" Mandy looked up through bangs that refused to cooperate and once again fell in her eyes. "I wouldn't mind being Mrs. Stokes but..." Wendy wondered if there were problems in the relationship. "Ever since Gil and Sara got married, he won't even so much as go mall shopping with me, he's developed an allergy to jewelery stores and anything remotely related to weddings." she sighed heavily. "I just don't know if he sees me as a pal to hang around with or marriage material." she wished it was the second.

"I think Warrick's little wedding trial put a damper on all the guys..." she knew that Hodges liked her and in a strange way, she found him kinda cute, kinda nerdy but fun to be around compared to some of his other coworkers. "You so much as mention the words "I Do" and heads turn and people suddenly have the need to leave the room. I don't get it, just look at Sara and Grissom." Mandy laughed.

"Compared to? Warrick and Tina? Catherine and Eddie?" she knew the odds of a marriage working out when you did the job they did, kept the hours they kept and saw the horrors they saw were heavily stacked against them but on the other hand...who better to share your life with than someone that understood all of these things. "I just don't know if marriage is in the cards for me.." Mandy saw Catherine return and couldn't wait till they decided on someplace to eat. Sara was looking just as hungry but a little sad as well.

"What's wrong Sidle...er...Grissom...God this is so strange..." Wendy noticed the look before Catherine.

"I'm just so ... I'm so glad you guys decided to do this today with me." she looked like she could use a hug and Catherine wrapped a supportive arm around her waist.

"We're glad you came with us...now I have a surprise...after lunch, I've arranged for a spa day at the Bellagio spa., Pedicures, Manicures, a nice massage are all in order..." she saw Wendy and Mandy just about leap off the sofa. Sara looked at her like she was nuts.

"I am so not having some Swedish man named Sven massaging my naked body...I'll leave that privilege to Gr..." she caught herself as all eyes turned to her..."Well I just don't like people playing with my..." all eyes again opened wide..."I...never mind!" she relented quickly to change the subject. The three women simply cracked up laughing with the knowledge that anything she said was fair game because of who her husband was.

They chose an Italian eatery and thoroughly enjoyed their lunch. Catherine had picked the place because Gil said Sara loved their vegetarian dishes. They each had a glass of wine and Sara sipped at her iced tea enjoying the camaraderie that they seemed to share.

"So which of you will be following in my footsteps?" she watched the three exchange confused glance. "Come on Catherine, Warrick's divorce is final, you're not going to tell us that you and he haven't..." she motioned a sexual context hand gesture and Catherine's mouth dropped open.

"We...Sara Grissom!" she shot her a look but snickered behind it..."I am not kissing and telling!" she blushed bright red.

"Who wants to know if you kissed?" Mandy clinked wine glasses with Wendy who had been about to say the same thing.

"Mandy?" Catherine spun on her "What about you and Cowboy Nick?" it was Mandy's turn to pretend to be shocked and innocent.

"We're just movie buddies." They looked at Sara and Mandy covered her mouth remembering how Sara had once claimed that Hank was nothing more to her than someone that went to movies with her. "Sorry...Sar" she apologized profusely. Sara brushed it off, what did it matter, she had who she wanted and all that she'd ever dreamed of and more...

"It's okay...apparently I wasn't his only movie buddy." she laughed with Catherine...how easy it was now to think back on those times because, back then, it was impossible to ever see him as a long term romantic interest. She had always wanted Gil Grissom and Hank had been a poor substitute for that. Hell, Bruno would have been better now that she thought of it.

"Okay...let's get this show on the road" Catherine signed off on the tab, they each flipped some cash on the table for the tip and gathered their purses then followed Cath to the waiting car. "We'll get all prettied up and then we can shop some more." Sara was starting to feel slight twinges in her abdomen and realized the babies were now fully awake.

"You okay?" Catherine saw her rub her belly. Sara smiled and her eyes started to water.

"Kids are awake...we better get a move on cause once they get started, I'm not going to be comfortable laying around getting kneaded and rubbed..." they got in the car and drove off to the spa.

They were escorted in, handed Turkish robes and told where they could change. We'll hit the sauna first to loosen your pores." the little Russian woman instructed. "Then each of you will get a full massage and heated rock treatments which will be really beneficial to you Mrs." she addressed Sara while motioning toward her belly. "Very relaxing on the back with the strain and such." she lead them like lambs to the slaughter. Sara followed her toward the dressing room she was instructed to use.

"Thank you..." she slipped inside and slowly undressed, not quite comfortable with being naked with some man who would be massaging her from head to toe.

Catherine was in the next dressing room looking forward to what had become a monthly ritual with her and sometimes she included Lindsey and her Mother in this luxury.

Mandy was thinking about what everyone had said about Nick and wondered what it would take to get him to make a move.

Wendy was thinking about Hodges and shook her head wondering if she were truly interested or simply settling for the middle of the gene pool. He was nice enough at times but at others he was like that proverbial piece of lint you knew wasn't causing that much problem to your black sweater but try as you might, you just couldn't seem to shed it. But he was intelligent, funny in his own way, annoying in others...and she couldn't decide if they'd make a cute couple or not...

They met inside the inner waiting room, robes pulled tightly around them. In front of them sat three massage tables and one massage chair. Catherine motioned to the chair and turned to Sara "When I was pregnant with Lindsey, I wasn't comfortable lying on my stomach, I was thinking with twins it might be just a bit more than you or they need...I hope it's okay?" Sara was touched that she thought of her comfort like that.

"Thanks Cath" she straddled the chair which surprisingly was quite comfortable and the three other girls crawled up on the tables. Four women came in shortly afterwards and began the process of thoroughly kneading, rubbing and manipulating often times neglected muscles. By the time they were through, each of the girls felt like melted rubber and signed in contentment. The woman working on Sara had told her about her own children and seemed to key in on exactly all the spots of her body that needed and appreciated the extra care an attention lavished on them.

"Oh God I've died and gone to Heaven" she sat back as the manicurist on her nails while the pedicurist began working on her feet. It surprised her as it had taken forever to get used to Gil playing with and rubbing them and to have someone else that was actually getting paid bend and stretch her toes, knead the arches and slather cream from toe to knee was something she'd never experienced outside of the house.

"I told you" Catherine sat beside her laughing at the moans and groans coming from Mandy and Wendy.

"I could sooooo get used to this..." Wendy stretched out her little toes and laughed. "I can just imagine David..." she shut her mouth and turned her head to cover her embarrassment but it was too late, all three sets of eyes turned on her..

"On his knees playing with your little piggies?" Mandy teased her unmercifully. Wendy wanted to slip into a crack in the earth and disappear but laughed with the others.

"I can't help it" she shrugged shyly, "There's something about him...he's just..."

"A nerd?" Sara teased. "He's got a kinda charm about him when you get past his...ego" she looked at Wendy who stuck her tongue out at her. "Really Wendy, if you are interested..."

"Well anyone with half a brain knows he's got the hots for you" Mandy quickly added with Catherine nodding in agreement. "He practically drools when you walk by."

"Did you notice the game he's been working on?" Catherine busily pointed out a deep red nail polish she wanted when the manicurist held up the selection tray. "The Wendy character...though he said it's only a small likeness of her but he hadn't named them yet..." she nodded in approval as the first coat was brushed on her nails "The one that looks an awful lot like you was the most detailed." the criminalist in her would hardly miss that small detail and she'd called Hodges on it.

"_Well the toy manufacturer wanted me to make them lifelike, you know so that people could get into character so I took a few liberties using people around the lab but none of them are actually named yet..." he checked his watch nervously then quickly stood and gathered the game up including yanking the Wendy look-a-like from Cath's hands "I have stuff in trace I need to go over" and vanished from the room._

"All I'm saying is he was awfully nervous when I mentioned the likeness." she shrugged with a grin and everyone including Wendy joined in the laughter.

The rest of the day went well and Sara was exhausted but happy when she returned to the house. She found Grissom sound asleep on the sofa and Bruno curled up on the floor beside with something under his paws. When he heard her and stood up, the little bundle also stood and rather clumsily tottered after his new 'momma'.

"What have you got there Bruno?" she bent down and picked up the little bag of bones and fur. "Gil!" she walked over and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "Gilbert.." she nudged him but he was deep asleep. Figuring that he must have worked the entire time she was gone she decided to leave him sleep. She carried the little fur bundle with her as she hung up her sweater and dropped her purse in its normal spot beside the door. "Have you eaten little one?" she walked into the kitchen and noticed a little food dish on the counter, a litter box near the door and a grocery bag that held the rest of the litter, a scoop and pan liners along with kitten chow and a few toys. "Well I guess your here to stay?" Bruno looked up at her and danced at her feet. When she put the little one on the floor, it followed Bruno with adoring eyes.

The house smelled wonderful. It appeared that Gil had also been busy making dinner, From the scent she could make out Pasta Premavera with a hint of garlic. The table was made up, much like she had done previously when she'd ruined dinner by letter her hormones rage. "My oh my he's thought of everything." she saw that he had garlic bread on a pan ready to put into the oven, Turning up the temperature, she placed the pan in the oven, poured wine in the glass where Gil would sit and orange juice in her own then went to wake him up.

"Gilbert" she nudged him but he didn't move. She held her hand under his nose to see if he was breathing and he was. "Gil...come on Gil dinner's ready.." she sat down on the coffee table and leaned over pinching his nostrils closed. He choked from his air being cut off and she sat there laughing.

"What the hell?" he sat up and immediately started to smile. "Well hello there beautiful you got your hair done..." he noticed immediately the high lites that had been added and they had cut about an inch or so off the ends, added layers and dried it in soft waves, the look was stunning. "An you're wearing make up, were you on a date?" he teased and she grabbed at his nose again. Gil was faster, captured her hand in his and pulled her forward into a very intense kiss.

"I would have done this sooner if I knew I'd get this response" she grinned against his lips then kissed him again. "Come on Romeo, the dinners almost ready." she stood up and offered him a hand. He got up, groaned from his position on the sofa and his aching knees and followed her into the kitchen where he made her sit down and served her dinner.

"I better warn you Sara, we have an addition to the family." he looked around for the kitten and noticed that once again she was curled up with Bruno. "He found her behind the wood pile in the yard." he gently placed a serving of the pasta on both their plates while Sara lifted the garlic bread and put it in the basket he had placed on the table.

"You clear out the cat aisle?" she motioned to the bag.

"Nope, Uncle Brass did, he ran to the store while I gave her a bath in the sink" Sara looked over at said mentioned appliance and Gil smiled reassuringly, "I cleaned it thoroughly with cleanser" he reassured her as he put the pan back on the stove and came to sit down. "I asked Jim if he wanted to keep her but when we saw how attached Bruno seems to be with her...Brass didn't have th heart to take her."

"I wonder where she came from?" she picked up her fork and slipped some of the pasta into her mouth and slowly chewed. "God Gil...this is fabulous." she looked surprised. "I mean this is really really good.." she took another fork full. "Did you happen to check that there weren't any other kittens out there?" Gil nodded as he ate his own food.

"If you don't want her we can always find her a home.." he wanted Sara to know that he was trying to get out of his old habit of making decisions without her. Sara shook her head and crunched into the garlic bread.

"No...Bruno seems content playing Mom and ... well, she showed up here for a reason." she lifted her orange juice "To a new addition, who we will have to pick an appropriate name for and to coming home to a wonderful dinner, a sexy husband...and ..." he winked as they clinked glasses and both drank. "To a successful day of shopping."

"Did you get everything you needed?" he wasn't about to mention fat clothes, skinny jeans or maternity wear first.

"More...the girls were a big help." she belched and giggled. "Mandy wants something to develop between her and Nick..." Gil looked up but not totally in surprise.

"I thought they were already dating?" he chewed the pasta and reached for more bread.

"They are but apparently, Warrick's divorce, our marriage had put a anti-wedding curse on him or something, he refused to go shopping with her to the mall because 'you can't stay away from jewelery stores!" is what he told her...

"I can understand Warrick's divorce but why would our wedding make him anti-marriage?" Gil was puzzled now.

"I think that he feels he would have to live up to the standards you set with the romantic way you set everything up...who knows?" she shrugged. She loved married life...all the perks that were included..but most of all, she loved that Gil loved her..that he was more affectionate than anyone could have imagined. Often times it was he who initiated their lovemaking, holding hands while walking down the street, wrapping his arms around her just because. If Mandy got half of that from Nick, she'd be a very lucky woman. It was this knowledge that had tears come to her eyes...

"What's wrong?" Gil wondered if he wasn't about to become a victim of her hormones yet again but she shook her head and smiled.

"I keep realizing how damned lucky I am to have you as my husband..." she reached quickly across the table and took his hands. "I don't tell you enough how lucky I am, and I don't show you enough how much I love you, how much being with you like this means to me." she smiled up at him.

"Well, why don't I put this away" he motioned to the dishes "And you can show me..." he wiggled his eyebrows and gave her that smile reserves strictly for her.

"Okay, meet you in the bedroom..." she got up, kissed him quickly and hurried down the hall. She had a surprise for him in one of the bags, Catherine had taken her to a shop specifically designed with lingerie for pregnant women.


	68. Chapter 68

Thanks for the reviews, they are over the top and I have taken one of the suggestions to heart as you will see...it thrills me to now end how many of you are still reading., I thought by now, you'd grow bored. I know I went a little goofy with Sara and her hormones but after watching my best friend do exactly that, it's where I got my idea...poor man!

Enjoy and if CSI or CBS want to sue me...go ahead...you don't even know where I am...hahahaha!

They lay on the bed, totally wrapped up in each other, Sara's legs were hanging over Gil's and they sat curled against the headboard. They had had an enjoyable evening, a fabulous time in bed and had slept peacefully for hours. A luxury neither of them were used to.

"Would you do something for me Gil?" she ran her finger slowly up his sternum until it ended up under his jaw. He took her hand in his and kissed the palm.

"You have only to ask and I would do just about anything?" he would have said 'anything' but sometimes when Sara got that pensive look she was wearing right now, he had the feeling that it wasn't going to be something he was totally comfortable with.

"Just about?" she looked at him and giggled. "Did you say you'd do just about anything?" she pulled her legs from him and then rolled closer so she could then run her tongue up the side of his neck, it was one of her favorite things to do to him.

"Sssssaaaaarrra..." it was too soon to start up again, he was boneless on the bed after the last rousing bout of lovemaking. "Don't start something..." she took a moment and kissed his lips soundly "That I can't finish..." he winked at her and she kissed him again. "What did you want me to do?" he knew eventually he would give in and it bothered him but not too much that Sara knew the same.

"Would you maybe...have lunch with Nick..." Gil sat up shaking his head adamantly.

"Noooooo noooo nooo no no no!" He pulled away from her and when she tried to pull him back, grasped both of her wrists and stopped her. "Absolutely not...I am not talking to Nick about his relationship with Mandy...no way Sara..." he was serious and Sara knew that no amount of pleading would do it so she decided to switch tactics. She got out of the bed and walked to the bathroom slamming the door behind her. Gil sat there wondering what just happened while Sara stood on the other side laughing into her hand. She knew Gil hated the silent treatment and usually after a few minutes, would cave. "Sara come on!" his voice was raised slightly. "Sara...listen to me, I can't do that, I would like to help...but.." he couldn't come up with a legitimate excuse that he knew she'd accept so he stopped, got off the bed and walked over to the door. When he was about to reach for the handle, he heard the lock snap into place. "Sara...you're asking me to stick my nose where it doesn't belong" he leaned his head heavily against the wood. "Come on Honey...He tapped the door. Sara sat on the side of the tub waiting. "Sara please...don't do this to me Sweetheart..." he ran his palm up and down the wood. "Mrs. Grissom...would you please come out here, you know I hate talking through closed doors!" he was trying everything in his arsenal. Sweet talk, anger...and even silence but Sara held firm and he went back to the bed. Just as he was about to call her again, the phone rang.

"Grissom" he answered in yet another frustrated tone of voice.

"Good morning to you too!" Brass' voice boomed on the other end. "We got another 419" he knew Gil had been ordered to take time off but this was involving the case they were both on. "Polly Harwood was just found dead...same thing, knife in the back in her own kitchen!" Brass was reading off what he'd been told as he drove to the crime scene. "I wouldn't even consider bothering you but when I told Ecklie what we were working on...he agreed., you up for it?"

Gil looked at the closed bathroom door and then at the phone. "Sara's gonna be pissed but...I'll be there as soon as I through some clothes on." he pushed off the bed, clicked off the phone and walked to the door. "Sara, Brass just called, I have a 419!" he put the phone down on the receiver and dug through his draw for boxers and socks. He was sitting on the bed putting his slacks back on when she came slowly out the door. Thinking he was pulling her leg, the moment she saw him putting his clothes on, she knew better.

"Ecklie put us on leave!" she sounded exasperated.

"It's connected to the other 419 we had with Southwest International, it's the secretary we interviewed." Sara's ears perked up. "They found her in her house, dead with a knife in her back, just like Clayton..." he stood up, pulled a shirt out of the closet and proceeded to button it up then tuck it in his slacks. As he started putting his belt together, she leaned over and kissed him.

"I won't wait up.." she teased. Gil smiled at her and kissed her once more then he leaned down and kissed her naked belly. "Take care of the kids, I shouldn't be gone too long. With that, he picked up his cellphone, wallet and keys. "I love you Sara Grissom!" he smiled and winked at her. He knew that as soon as he was gone, Sara would find something to occupy her time which could be anything, cooking, cleaning or she might even decide to show up in the lab, it had happened before and no longer surprised him.

"Stay safe Baby!" she blew a kiss at him and crawled back on the bed snuggling into the pillows he had been laying on.

He drove out to the scene and found Brass and two uniforms standing around waiting on David. He pulled up to the curb, got out and went to the back of the Denali where he gathered his kit. "Sorry to drag you out Gil but this screams repeat performance." he nodded his head toward a woman standing talking to Sophia, dabbing at her eyes. Gil walked over with Brass and listened to what she had to say.

"This is Catalina Geraci, she's the one that found the victim." Sophia introduced her. The woman nodded and continued her conversation with Sophia.

"I...I came to pick her up, she was having some problems since Jeff was killed...she was close to him ya know..." she dabbed her eyes again. "Anyway, when I get here, the front door is open...it's been open before when I picked her up..." another dab as the mascara smeared even worse than before "I push the door open and there's blood all over but...no body or nothing" she looked from Sophia to Brass and then to Gil.

"Detective Brass, this is Gil Grissom from the Las Vegas Crime Lab!" he motioned to Grissom who was taking it all in.

"Polly mentioned you" she stared at Grissom.. "She was supposed to call you when she got back to work, she'd asked the boss about taking some time off since Jeff...Mr. Clayton died...today was supposed to be her first day back..." she sobbed heavily. "Who would want to hurt her? She was a great friend, a good worker...Jeff...Mr. Clayton thought the world of her...and so did our boss..." she blew her nose in yet another piece of tissue and tucked it in her bra. Gil and Brass raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Do you know why she was going to call me?" Gil put his case on the ground and slowly stood, his back still sore from earlier events.

"She said she found something on a disc...something that Jeff...Mr. Clayton left in her car. She was cleaning it out the other day and found it stashed under the seat." she motioned to the car parked in the driveway.

"Do you know if she had the disc at home?" Brass looked from Grissom to the woman.

"No...she said she was afraid after what happened to Mr. Clayton...So she put it in a safe deposit box at the office." she smiled between the tears. "You don't think she was killed because of whatever is on that disc do you?"

Brass looked at Gil and shrugged. "We won't know until we get it in our possession, do you know where she might have kept the key?" Catalina nodded then slowly looked around almost as if she were afraid they were being watched. "I ... I have it..." she reached inside her bra, pushed the tissue around and dug for the key that had been buried under her ample bosom. She extracted it and handed it over to Brass who's eyebrows shot to his hairline. Gil stifled a laugh and turned to look at Sophia who had to cover her mouth to keep from chuckling at Brass' response.

"Ummmm thank you.." He took the key wishing she'd have handed it to Gil who was already donning a pair of latex gloves. He turned to Gil who had an evidence bag out and ready to take the key.

"Miss Geraci, we're going to have to ask you to come down to the station with us." he informed her before Gil could.

"Why...oh my God why?" she slightly backed away. "You...you... don't think I had anything to do with this do you?" she looked from Sophia to Brass and then to Gil.

"We need to ask you a few more questions and fingerprint you to rule you out!" Gil tried to reassure her even though it was standard procedure to believe, first on the scene, first suspect. Something about the woman reminded him of Polly and he didn't believe she had anything to do with Polly's murder but she might inadvertently know someone who did. She nodded feeling a bit better that they didn't think she was the murder.

After the one uniform had left the scene, Sophia grabbed her kit that she kept in case she was called into assist and followed Gil into the house.

The room was a clutter of county, antiques and a mish mash of other types of furniture and collectibles. She had stuffed cats all over the place along with tea pots of cats, knick knacks of cats, a lamp in the shape of a cat... Gil looked around and turned to Brass "Guess someone let the cat out of the bag?" he continued forward until they ended up in the kitchen where Polly lay dead on the floor, a similar knife to the one that had been in Jeffrey Clayton's back stuck out of hers in almost the exact same position.

"Gives new meaning to the term Pussy Galore!" he stepped over her body, careful to keep well aware of the blood pool as Grissom began taking pictures. The kitchen was not much different then the living room, it too had a collection of cats everywhere. Pie plates, tea pot on the stove that was still warm to the touch. An array of magnets on the refrigerator were cats and kittens. Tacked up on the fridge under one of them was Gil's card that he'd given her in the event she thought of anything.

"She's wearing her bathrobe so she didn't have time to get dressed yet." he took out his sketch pad and began doing a run through. "She comes downstairs...I'm guessing the bedroom is upstairs" he looked over at the stairway that ran up from the kitchen. "Throws on morning tea for herself and never makes it back upstairs to dress., my guess the killer was already in the house." he looked around.

"Could have been someone she knew, stopped by before work?" Brass was only guessing considering the knife wound was in her back. "I mean, she turns her back on the person and they knife her.." Gil leaned over and took a closer look, picked up his camera and snapped a few pictures.

"It's buried to the hilt, and from the position, it went though some bone, I'm guessing our killer is a male" he leaned in further and saw a white fiber near the base of the handle. Pulling out his tweezers and a bindle, he quickly retrieved it and put it into the envelope then sealed it and quickly labeled it with the marker he carried in his kit. He pulled out his dusting kit and went about looking for any fingerprints on the wood since the blade was buried in the victim's back, he would have to wait to fume the blade when it got back to the lab.

David walked in and stood back waiting for instructions to remove the body. Her liver temp when he took it indicated that she'd been dead only about an hour and a half at that point.

"Miss Geraci could have walked right into this" Gil continued exploring the body and found a similar white fiber caught in the woman's necklace. Again he removed it and labeled it before stowing the bindle along with the other into his kit. "David you can take the body now but leave the knife in" David knew it meant loading her into one of the body bags face down but Gil wanted Al to extract the knife and David understood that without being told.

"Will do Griss" he moved to unfurl the bag he carried with and his assistant grabbed the other end, then they unzipped it and carefully picked up Polly's body then zipped the bag carefully closed. David left with the body and the three of them spent the next three hours going over her entire house. When they were done and Gil was convinced that they had found everything they were going to, he stood up and groaned because of his aching knees.

"Well, I'll get this back to the lab, Wendy can process the fibers and Hodges can work on the prints we have so far." he picked up his kit, removed the last pair of gloves that would need to be accounted for and stepped outside into the sunlight. Slipping a pair of sunglasses on, they walked to his Denali and Brass stood there while he loaded his kit into its normal space in the back. Gil was even more organized than Warrick to the point of obsessive where his stuff was situated. Brass admired that about him and remembered hearing how Warrick had taken Greg under his wing when he'd showed up at a crime scene ill prepared and looking like he was more suited for attending a rock concert than a crime scene. Warrick had learned his shit from the same situation with Gil and Nick had followed suit.

"Tell Sara I said hello" Brass waved and headed toward his own Taurus, he was heading over to Southwest to do another round of interviews and promised Gil he would call if anything came up requiring him to come there as well.

Gil dialed his cellphone and Sara answered it on three rings.

"Grissom residence." he could hear the smile in his voice. "Mr. Grissom's not home right now so if you'd like to come over for a romp in the sack..." she was using her sexiest voice.

"Okay...okay...you can stop the hooker game Missy" he laughed along with her. "How's it going?" he knew she was about to ask the same thing.

"I should be asking you that...my bed...our bed seems soooooo empty right now.." she whispered into the phone. "When are you coming home lover boy?" Gil sighed knowing it would be several hours before he could do that again.

"Sara., it's the same murder right down to the knife...she had a key to a safe deposit box, Sophia's going to wait till we print it and see if she can locate the disc that's supposed to be in it.

"So you're not coming home anytime soon?" she sounded a little frustrated but understood that Gil was hesitant to hand off a case that he had not made progress on. "Okay, I guess I have to call your stand in...cause I'm horny and want some hot sex!" she teased.

"Have fun with your vibrator Sara" he teased right back and she fell over onto the bed laughing. "Don't rattle the kids though, you know they hate the rabbit vibrator right?" she opened her mouth stunned that he even remembered she had one of those. "It rattles their growth plates!" he continued.

"Hurry home smart ass!" she blew a kiss into the phone and hung up.

It was going to be a long day.!


	69. Chapter 69

**A/N:** Thank you again for the reviews and thanks for offers of ideas as you see, some of them have been incorporated into my story such as the suggestion of having Gil talk to Nick about marriage..which will take place later. I'd like to leave the Geeks have a peaceful night at home but that's not happening for the time being...yup you guys are going on another roller coaster ride...and you might even get a chance to solve the crime...wait and see...

**Disclaimer:** Oh, Forget it, I don't own them but at least right now, they ain't working for you and Billy has been spotted here in Chicago...nanananan...

Gil knew without a doubt that both murders were connected. The white fibers he'd collected from the second scene matched one that Doctor Robbins had pulled from the throat of the first victim. He sent the fibers to trace for analysis and Gil was waiting for the results as he attempted to help Catherine with the ever growing stack of paperwork that never seemed to let up.

"I can't put my finger on it Cath but there's something about these two murders that just rub me the wrong way." he chewed absentmindedly on the pen he had been writing with.

"You mean beside the fact that two people are dead?" she teased him lightly. "Listen Gil, why don't you go home and relax with Sara and I'll call you as soon as anything important comes up." He looked up about to shake his head. "Trace won't have any results till tomorrow and I'm more than sure when you left you probably told your wife that it would only be a little while?" how well she knew him.

"Yeah" he blushed "I honestly thought it was just going to be a quick collection and..." she was motioning for him to hand over his charts. "Let me just finish these and..." she shook her head and put her hands out once again.

"No can do buster, Sara would have my ass!" she smiled and kept her hands extended until he relented. "Now go home, spend some time with your wife and that drool monster dog of yours and I'll call you if anything comes up on those threads." He nodded, took off his glasses, tucked them in his pocket and was just about to pull his jacket on when his cellphone went off. Catherine hoped it was Sara but from the look on his face, she realized it wasn't.

"Grissom...yes Jim I'm still at the lab..." he rolled his eyes.

"Gil, you're not going to believe this but I'm at a car accident right now...pretty bad one, and you're not going to believe who the decedent is..." Brass waited for his response.

"Don't tell me...One Catalina Geraci?" Catherine's head shot up. "Who is the striking vehicle?" he almost knew the answer before Jim voiced it...

"Hit and Run, no witnesses!" Brass and Gil said the same thing at the same time. "How weird is that?" They both had been around the block enough to know that there was no coincidences, this was getting messy and the body count was on the rise. Catherine watched Gil jot down the information and then hang up.

"Well, I guess I better call Sara...the day just got longer" he motioned for her to follow him "I want fresh eyes on this Catherine would you come with me?" Catherine agreed and headed to her locker to get her jacket.

"I'll meet you in the parking lot, don't forget to call Sara okay?" He waved in response and picked up his cell phone hitting her number.

"Grissom residence!" she was in a good mood and Gil worried that he was just about to ruin it.

"Sara it's me...I was honestly on my way home...but Brass just called, the witness we talked to the other day was the victim this morning, and the person that found her this morning was just killed in a hit and run with no witnesses. "I won't be home for awhile, I'm sorry Honey, this wasn't supposed to...

"Gil...it's okay, I understand the job...if you need help call me, I can be there in 30 minutes or less." she knew he would never willingly drag her into the office when she was supposed to be taking it easy but she offered none the less.

"I'll call you when I know anything okay?" he could picture her smile through the phone. "I love you baby...and the kids" he whispered looking around like someone would overhear him.

"I love you too Gil!" she kissed into the phone and then hung up.

Catherine was waiting for him by the Denali and they hurried to the scene. The car was still in the intersection, mangled beyond repair and from the looks of it, no one would have survived. Gil had every inkling that this wasn't simply and accident and from the look on Brass' face, he was thinking along the same line.

"She was on her way back to the office after leaving PD...I get the feeling things are going to get pretty damned messy really quick!' He stepped back and pointed to the surveillance cameras on the posts surrounding the intersection. "I got the tapes being pulled as we speak" he wanted Gil to know he was one step ahead on getting answers. "I don't like this Gil, we just talked to this woman this morning and she's dead, you talked to Polly the other day, she's dead...whatever is on that disc is enough to get people killed and I want that found!" he knew Gil had Sophia working on that detail as they spoke.

"Sophia has a meeting with the president of the company in an hour., she's got the only key to the safe deposit box but Brass, I'm telling you I'd be more comfortable if you have Nick and Warrick go with her or a uniform, your choice." he turned to Brass and Catherine who was leaning in the car looking over the victim. Gil pulled out his camera and started taking the preliminary photos. Brass decided to take his suggestion to heart considering that the last three victims all had something in common and right now, it was a disc, a key and Southwest International. He pulled out his cellphone and called Sophia.

"This is Brass Sophia, you can take two uniforms or Gil will have Nick and Warrick meet you at S.I." he waited to hear what her response would be.

"Do you think it's necessary? I mean, I'm only going to meet with the president and retrieve the disc." she wasn't yet aware that there had been another victim.

"Yes, Gil and I along with Catherine are at an accident, the victim just happens to be one Catalina Geraci.." he heard her take a breath. "Sophia, it wasn't an accident, it was hit and run and she's dead, whatever is on that disc cost three people their lives and I'm not about to risk one of my own." he heard her talking to someone and assumed it was the guard at the building.

"I'll wait outside for them, I told the guard I was waiting on some back up, got the strangest look just now!" she whispered into the phone. Gil had been on his cell and text both Nick and Warrick telling them to back up Sophia at S.I. ASAP and that she was on site now. They responded with an affirmative response and headed out to meet her.

"Tell Sophia they're on their way..don't go in without them!" his command was full of authority and Sophia heard it herself.

"Tell Gil not to worry, I'll sit tight until they arrive." she closed up her phone, tucked it into her vest and sat back picking up an article she'd run off the computer on Southwest International. It had been a scathing report about the President. How he was willing to cut corners to make budget and had been recently overheard to say that he'd gladly accept inferior products if the bottom line paid the salaries of his employees. He didn't see anything wrong with having parts built outside of the United States, could care less that people complained about outsourcing if it mean a a bigger profit for the company in the long run but the problem was that since he had taken over, the safety issues of the company had come under fire. Near misses in the air had tower traffic controllers threatening to walk off the job. They complained of frequent glitches in the system, one minute a plane would be on radar, the next it would blip off and then reappear making it next to impossible to guarantee air safety. The new computer system was supposed to alleviate the problem and the name of the inventor was none other than Jeffrey Clayton. Sophia wondered about having someone that was hired to fix the glitches that threatened the system also be said inventor of a new and supposedly improved system.

Nick and Warrick pulled up along side her Denali and threw the vehicle in park. "Hey Curtis, what's up?" Nick motioned with his head toward the building.

"Gil and I got a call the other day for a 419 in Henderson" she tossed the article into their window and Warrick quickly perused what she had pointed out. "Jeffrey Clayton, found dead in his open, no sign of breaking or entering but he was on the kitchen floor, knife buried to the hilt in his back." she let them absorb that. "He was found by his liaison from Southwest International, one Polly Harwood, she came to pick him up for work when she walked in and found him. Today, she turns up dead in her house, same MO no signs of forced entry but she's in the kitchen, same type of knife buried in her back, to the hilt. Gil and Catherine are at an accident, seems the person we talked to this morning that found Polly, a Miss Catalina Geraci was just killed in a hit and run." she held up the key to the safe deposit box. "She had this key from Polly, who got it from Jeffrey...and now we're meeting with the President of the company to see if the disc is in the safe deposit box as Miss Geraci stated that Miss Harwood had told her. " they each exited their vehicles and walked toward the entrance of the building. "Brass called, Gil wanted either you or two uniforms to back me up. I figured you guys would be less intimidating then starting off with uniforms. Nick nodded knowingly.

Sara decided that she had enough of being home. Figuring that Gil would more than likely spend the next shift at the office, she decided to finish the laundry and after that, had tackled cleaning up the house, not that it was difficult as they both were pretty much neatness freaks. But like any house, it required the usual dusting and vacuuming and she washed the back sliding doors that had imprints of both Bruno's nose and his tongue. He insisted on licking the glass while checking out his domain and Sara had little effect in getting him to cease the disgusting habit, instead she'd just accepted it as a part of her normal housecleaning chores and tackled it with her usual aplomb. When there was nothing left to polish, shine or wash Catherine had given the little kitten a bath, still without a name, she told Gil that was going to be his job since he found him. Once he was done, she turned toward Bruno who had, upon seeing the running water in the sink and the bottle of pet shampoo, had made himself very scarce. He knew what baths were and he wasn't about to go willingly. Sara knew she wouldn't be able to wrestle the Boxer and contented herself with drying the scrawny kitten with a hair dryer and brush. When she finished the little kitten looked happier and definitely fluffier but the minute Bruno got a hold of her, he proceeded to show Sara just what he thought of her flimsy excuse for a proper bath and licked the kitten from head to toe.

"I give up, you want to by a Mommy, then you keep your daughter clean!" she put a dish of food down for each of them and watched with enjoyment as the huge Boxer and the tiny kitten ate contentedly side by side.

She decided then that shopping for some groceries would be safe enough. She got her purse and jacket and left a message just in case Gil came home that she'd run to the cleaners for their dry cleaned goods, to the drugstore for more prenatal vitamins and then to the local grocery store for something for dinner and to stock up on their fruits, vegetables and dog and cat goodies. She slipped into her car and drove out of the garage making sure the door was closed before setting the remote alarm on the house. Then she headed off to do her errands, relaxed in the knowledge that more than likely, Gil might come home before she did. Had she watched behind her, she might have noticed the dark vehicle that picked up her trail and followed her Toyota ever so cautiously down the road...

**Yup...cliffhanger here...and more problems for our Geeks...but at least the house is clean...for now!**


	70. Chapter 70

**A/N:** okay, it came to my attention I mixed up a character name, It was Sara giving the kitten a bath, Grissom had given her one previously (please don't call Peta on me)...anyway, it was and is SARA that gave the cat the second bath..it's a baggy bony kitten so washing is not't that hard...not like I brought them a full grown kitty...Anyway, I wouldn't even imagine Catherine trying to wash or even own a cat...and besides, I've been trying to write this story between crazy patients showing up to be seen by Doctor...and mistakes happen when you lose your glasses but try to strive to get some done!;;;;Sorry...

_Enjoy and I'm not admitting that I don't own CSI...cause you just never know..._

Sophia, Nick and Warrick were ushered into an office after stopping by the concierge desk. "Mr. McPherson will be with you momentarily" the receptionist apologized profusely. "He's usually on time but today, well, with everything" she wrung her hands "you know, the death of Mr. Clayton and then losing Polly...Mrs. Geraci is going to be so lost, she and Polly were very close, almost like sisters." she looked about ready to cry and Sophia looked at Nick with a puzzled expression on her face.

"So you haven't heard?" Warrick took the initiative to begin the conversation. The receptionist, one Janice Claypool looked from Nick to Warrick shaking her head slowly.

"Heard what?" she seemed genuinely in the dark and Warrick weighed the decision to tell her against keeping it to himself. "Mrs. Geraci was killed this morning in a hit and run accident. Janice reached for the nearest chair to steady herself and Nick quickly guided her to a place to sit.

"Careful there...sit right here.." he looked from Warrick wondering how wise it had been for the CSI to have mentioned this and to Sophia hoping perhaps she would be able to comfort the apparently distraught woman.

"Oh my God...not Polly and Catalina...oh God.." she looked around for something and Warrick realized she was searching for tissue paper. Quickly he stole over to the desk and handed her the box.

"I'm sorry, perhaps I shouldn't't have said anything" he looked between his coworkers. "But if there's anything you can tell us about them, anything at all, did either of them have enemies?" he saw her look up quizzically.

"Enemies?" she seemed surprised, genuinely surprised at such a question. "Polly was friends with everyone here, she was the glue that kept this place together, she was Mr. McPherson's right hand...and Catalina...she was so sweet and friendly with the entire staff, she was a manager in the control tower you know?" Sophia was taking notes. "She was involved in working on the new landing strategies that Jeff...I mean...Mr. Clayton was instituting it was supposed to be a major breakthrough with all the air traffic that we handle." she sounded proud of the new program. "Of course, since Mr. Clayton was the one that found the major problems we were having already, it was kind of good that they decided to keep the upgrades in house!" Warrick shot a glance at Sophia who nodded that she had caught that as well. "Could you just imagine the media circus we'd be dealing with if we contracted this to some outside company?" Sophia simply took it all in. "I mean, Mr. McPherson has been drug through the ringer because he's outsourced a lot of jobs, mostly plane production, and building upgrades...the papers were extremely unkind to him, he was only trying to give jobs to those that were willing to do the work..."

"At a lesser rate?" Sophia interjected quickly. "Or because the bottom line was more important than the integrity of the products being produced?" The receptionist sat back as if trying to contemplate an answer.

"I'm not sure what you're insinuating Officer Curtis" she leaned in to read the ID tag on Sophia's hip. "But I can assure you that both Mr. McPherson and Mr. Clayton had the wellbeing of the company foremost in their minds..." she stood up "He should be with you in a moment" and straightening her skirt, she walked out of the office leaving the three of them standing around waiting on the President of the company.

"I'm thinking, what if Clayton was making the glitches happen so he could get his software on board?" Nick walked around making mental notes of the office., the awards on the wall, letters of satisfaction from customers, pictures with several high ranking people from both Las Vegas and the Government. "And I'm thinking this Mr. McPherson is heavily connected in this town. He turned around and noticed a picture taken at a golf tournament with a group of men, one happened to be none other than Sam Braun. "heavily!" he repeated to no one in particular.

They turned as they heard the handle of the office door turn. A smallish man, perhaps early 60's appeared, dressed meticulously in a navy suit. "Gentlemen...Lad..." he noticed Sophia was the only female in the room...I was told that you needed to see me?" Warrick was sure he was told much more than that but decided to play the game.

"We have some questions for you regarding a Mr. Clayton.." he figured he start there...

"Ah yes...A very well liked young man, and a very unfortunate death I'm afraid" he took his seat behind the huge mahogany desk. "What questions do you have for me?" he seemed rather calm considering he was supposed to have lost a very integral part of his company.

"For starters, I have a key for a safe deposit box that I was told is on premises?" Sophia held up the key and Mr. McPherson reached out as if he expected her to drop it in his hand. "I'd like it if someone could take me to it please?" She continued while ignoring his outstretched hand. He decided a staring contest with the young officer was not going to bring any result of her handing over the key.

"Yes...well of course...but may I ask..." he saw Nick look at Sophia "What could possibly be in the box?"

"We were told it contains something that might have to do with the sudden rash of deaths." Warrick stepped forward.

"Well I'd hardly think anything like that should be kept here then should it?" he stood up and went to a door behind him. "If you'll follow me, I'll gladly show you where the box is kept." he walked ahead down a long corridor with the three of them trailing behind. "I can't understand how ... wait? did you say a rash of deaths? Who else died?" he turned to them and stopped mid corridor.

"Polly Harwood was found dead this morning." Sophia offered little more than that. The look on his face was anything less than stunned by this news and it struck her as odd that considering the fact that Polly had claimed to be such an important member of McPherson's team...he didn't react like it was much of a loss, shook his head and continued down the hallway. "Mrs. Geraci was added to the list this afternoon...she was killed in a hit and run only an hour ago." he reached out and grabbed at the wall. Warrick and Nick exchanged glances but said nothing else.

"Not...Callie...no..." she could see tears coming to his eyes. "She...was so innocent..." he pulled his hankie from his pocket and dabbed at his eyes. "I can't believe...are you absolutely sure?" he turned hoping that perhaps Sophia was mistaken. "Such a loss..." he continued to mumble as he stood heavily against the wood paneling.

"Mr. McPherson, the safe deposit box please!" Sophia swished her hand in the direction they'd been headed.

"Yes...why yes...of course..." his stride reminded them off a fat little mouse as he waddled quickly down the hall, made a sharp right and stopped at a door that resembled a bank safe door. "Right in here..." he shifted some dials and then turned the huge handle and the door slowly creaked open. There were numerous boxes and Sophia matched the key to the box numbered 137. She carefully pulled it out of its slot and lowered it down into Nick's waiting hands.

"If you would give us a moment?" Sophia held the key up indicating that they had no intention of opening the box in his presence.

"Well this is highly unusual!" he snorted with disdain "I mean, it is my company and by rights whatever is in that box could very well be considered the property of Southwest you know.." Nick immediately cut him off with a copy of a warrant.

"Right now, there have been three unexplained deaths connected with this company and this" he held up the paper "clearly states that whatever is in this box, including the box itself is the property of the Las Vegas PD!" he pulled out a large plastic evidence bag and slipped the metal box inside then sealed it. It was a shock when Mr. McPherson realized that somehow he'd missed both Sophia and Nick donning latex gloves before they handled the box..

"If there isn't anything else I can help you with!" his voice dripped with sarcasm at the moment. "I'll have the receptionist show you out!" he huffed then hurriedly waddled down the floor and disappeared around the corner. Sophia and Nick exchanged shrugs then carried the box out of the building. The receptionist looked thrilled to see them leaving.

"If there's anything else" she held up a card. "Mr. McPherson said to give you a copy of his Lawyers name and number" she turned on stiletto heels and disappeared into the building.

"Well at least we got this without too much fuss." Nick laughed enthusiastically. They loaded the box into the Denali and headed back to the lab to find out what they had in their possession that might have gotten three people killed. They drove out of the complex and down toward the Lab never realizing they were being closely followed by a dark sedan.

They got to the lab and unloaded the and carried their load in through the back door. The car that had followed stayed well out of range of any cameras in the parking lot. "No sense getting too close, at least we know where the box is..." The driver stated to the passenger.

"That bitch had the key all along!" he sat back, cracked his knuckles and looked closely at his well manicured hand. It was then he noticed that he had a slice on his thumb where he'd accidentally hit the blade of the knife as he jammed it into the back of Jeff Clayton. He hoped that it hadn't been oozing when he had killed the second victim but knowing that he could be in deep shit if it was and he had left any evidence, he wisely shut his mouth and kept his discovery to himself. He silently cursed himself for being so stupid. They watched the three and made note of the cars that were in the parking lot.

"I see Grissom's Denali is here but not his regular car." Passenger stated as he wiped at his now sweaty brow.

"I got a report that his wife is out shopping today...we got a tail on her too!" the driver stated after disconnecting from the cell phone call he just received. "She would be an easier target!" he stated "but my thought would be that the best move go after Gil Grissom...he might be a better bargaining chip than an over emotional, pregnant wife. They nodded in silent agreement both having thought the same thing. "I ain't touching no pregnant broad, you know what they do to people in the slam for killing a pregnant woman? No way, I'm not touching them, I don't care who the hell our boss is!

"You know, Braun's daughter still works for CSI...she was there when he got taken out!" he smiled remembering how happy his boss was when he learned that he had one less area of competition. "It would have been nice if he hadn't left all his damned money and the control of his empire to her...but, she hasn't approached anyone about continuing his work...maybe she'll realize that it would be a conflict of interest for her and her precious lab." he continued driving back to their office.

"Why would she? She got him off that damned murder conviction tampering with his DNA...and for what? To prove he was her Daddy? It should have cost her her fucking job but damned Grissom...if he didn't manage to sweep that under the rug!" he was livid at the memory. "Would have gotten rid of one of the two of them back then but the Under Sheriff accepted that he'd 'handled it and she wouldn't do it again!" Bullshit! he sat back as the car made headway returning through traffic.

_**Who is the boss? Why would he know if Grissom's regular car was in the lab? How would he know so much...Gee I wonder, who could this be...????? How would they know about Catherine? Her use of the lab? Her evaluation that handled the situation so she wouldn't be written up?...so many questions...and more to come...**_


	71. Chapter 71

**A/N:** Sorry about my last rant, I shouldn't take things to heart but I am working hard on keeping to character, trying to entertain and keep things interesting while our Sara is off finding herself in real life...Smut Smut Smut in this chapter...don't say you were not warned...I figured you were due for some quality Geek Time...enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Hollywood, Billy is here in Chicago...so I got him., you don't...nanananana

Sara got home, flipped off the alarm long enough to park in the garage. She unloaded her groceries and then carried in the dry cleaning, went to the front door and picked up the mail that was shoved through the brass slot on the door and absentmindedly flipped through it. She wasn't paying much attention to anything she saw until the envelope with Williams College emerged.

"Shit...not again!" she thought to herself. It had been the bane of her existence since the last time they had sent a letter which at the time she wasn't even privileged to see and knew nothing about until the day before he left. "You are not getting my husband again!" she thought about tossing the envelope into the shredder and then felt guilty. The trip, though it had broken her heart, made her doubt their relationship and herself had in fact been good for Grissom. He had returned well rested and definitely happy to see her.

As she was walking into the kitchen, she noticed a message light on the answering machine. She figured it would be for Gil so she didn't bother playing it and went about fixing dinner. She hoped that he would at least be able to make an appearance for that. After letting Bruno outside and listening to the plaintive cries of his new charge, she scooped up the little cat and brought her over to a bowl of food. "This should keep you busy until your Momma comes back!" she laughed at the thought of the big Boxer being a surrogate Mom to the little waif.

She decided to call Gil and check if he thought he would make it home., he was in a much better mood than previous and sounded like he might have taken a brief nap in his office which was often the case when he needed to look at things with fresh eyes. They both knew that if he had come home, he would have not managed a nap and both would be exhausted. This case was taking him away from her again and it bothered her.

"Hey it's me, do you think you'd have time to make it home for dinner?" he had picked up on the first ring.

"Yeah, we're at a stand still here, Sophia and the guys (she knew that meant Warrick and Nick) got back from their meeting, brought the safe deposit box with them and Catherine and Sophia are printing it as we speak." he looked at his watch, winced at the hours that he'd been gone and promised to make it up to her. "I should be able to get out of here shortly, they're going to need some time deciphering the disc, Archie has that now." he saw Catherine look up and mouth.

_"Say hello to Sara for us!"_

"I'm making your favorite dish if you hurry home!" she teased "You got a letter from Williams today." she sounded level headed about that but he simply laughed it off.

"Been there, done that...I wouldn't be any good to them..." he balanced the phone while signing off on several reports.

"Really? Why's that?" she played along with him.

"Cause, The little wife likes me at home in her bed each day!" his voice lowered so those around him wouldn't hear.

"Really? You have a 'little' wife?" Does she know about us?" Sara said in her most seductive voice.

"No, don't tell her it's better to keep her in the dark, you're much ... much better in bed then she is...she's kinda...oh...I don't know." he thought better of making any kind of comment that could get him in trouble with her. He could hear Sara laughing at him and knew that she was in a good mood herself.

"So my little wife, what have you been doing all day?" He could only imagine since she was going stir crazy being cooped up for any length of time.

"I cleaned a little..."

"Just a little?" He joked knowing better.

"I sorted the mail..." she was hesitant to tell him she'd gone out alone because of the previous contractions that had them both walking on egg shells.

"And?" He knew she hadn't stopped at that.

"I did laundry...and picked up the dry cleaning..." she threw that in quickly hoping he wouldn't pay any attention but the intake of breath she heard from his end clearly told her she was in for a lecture.

"Sara..." he bit his lip, counted to ten and then started again. "What did the doctor say?" he might as well be talking to himself and he knew it.

"Gil...you were out of clean shirts, you were the one that picked out the _dry clean only_ and I was out anyway doing some grocery shopping!" she figured if she was in deep shit, she was going to lay it all on the line. "I picked up your favorite French bread and that fondue cheese you love so much" she realized it sounded like a bribe but she really wanted to spoil him.

"Didn't you reshingle the roof while you were at it? Perhaps you replaced that fence post out back beside the log pile...or maybe you did a grease and oil job on the...

"I get it, I get it alright already, I get it Grissom!" she huffed into the phone and Gil knew that although she knew better, it wasn't about to stop her anytime soon. Short of tying her to the bed with steel cables, he knew damned well that Sara would do whatever she felt like doing., doctor's and himself be damned.

"Sara, I'm worried about you and the babies, that's all..." he leaned against the desk and noticed that Sophia walked into the lab carrying a fingerprint card. "Honey, I'll be home in a bit, Sophia just got something...I love you...and remember don't do to much..." he hung up before she had a chance to reply. "What have you got for us?" he walked over as Catherine joined her.

"Okay, the fingerprints on the box were definitely Jeffrey Clayton and Polly Harwood but there was another set of partials, they belong to an unknown..." Grissom sighed ready to call it a day when she continued. "But there was some substance on the box mixed with the fingerprint from Polly...any guess to what it was?" she was smiling and Greg quickly decided to guess.

"Semen?" he snickered, turned to see if Grissom was going to correct him until Sophia smiled.

"Bingo...our Miss Polly had 'sticky' fingers when she handled this box., the only prints in the box were Jeff's though, on the inside of the box and on the disc which by the way, Archie said he needs about 48 hours to crack the codes on it...so I think for now., we're at a standstill again." she put the card down and stood waiting to see what Grissom wanted to add.

"Well, shift end is about 20 minutes away, everyone wrap up what you were doing, Go home get some rest and we'll go back at this tomorrow. Sophia, I want that box locked up make sure that it's tagged, bagged and put where no one else will get to it." She looked confused "Three people are dead because of whatever is on that disc, I'll inform Brass that we want to get back into S.I., we'll fingerprint everyone tomorrow and pull a DNA sample to compare that semen.

"Oh, no need, Hodges did that...it's Jeffery's" she lifted the box and carried it to the evidence room and back into the special vault that was used for crimes such as these.

"Well, I'm going to pick Lindsey up, she asked me to take her shopping...out growing her clothes but I think she wants to see if I'll let her change her style now that she's a teenager." she rolled her eyes. "I'm too old for this!" she winked at Grissom knowing his fun would just begin with the birth of his twins.

"Thanks Cath, makes me fell good!" he joked, headed back to his office to pick up his jacket and briefcase, then he called Sara on his way out and informed her that he was on his way home and should be there about 20 minutes from then. He looked around, suspicious of anything out of the ordinary, walked to his personal car and decided to take that home instead. He was thankful that tonight traffic and the lights were with him. He was home in 17 minutes, parked in the garage and reset the alarm.

Sara was in the kitchen, singing along to the radio while Bruno was busy trying to hang on to the kitten and give her yet another bath. The bundle of fur, complete with a few healthy meals in her was now in shape to give Bruno a little attitude and she hissed and slapped him gently on his nose. All he did in response was to put a paw on her tail and hold her down more tightly. Gil couldn't help but laugh as he dropped his keys on the table along with pocket change, his wallet and his briefcase.

"Hey Lucy...I'm home...you got some splaining to do" he shouted in his best Cuban accent.

"I'm out here doing Fred honey...I'll be out in a minute unless you want to go upstairs and do Ethel!" he laughed thinking of all the times they sat and watched The Lucy Show. It had been his Mom's favorite show simply because the actress always found herself in deep shit and had a best friend right along side her to take the blame with her.

"Okay, I'll be down in just a few minutes" Gil decided a quick shower would just do the trick and headed upstairs to the master bedroom where he quickly stripped off his clothes, shoved them into the hamper and was so wrapped up in what he was doing, he hadn't paid attention that he had been followed by his wife who took the opportunity when he bent to remove his socks, bare ass naked to smack him on the cheek of his ass.

"Jesus Sara!" he turned around rubbing the heated flesh. "Into spanking now?" he wiggled his eyebrows but still rubbed at the smarting skin. "Where'd you learn to hit like that?" he smirked.

"What can I say?" she shrugged, "It was out there, that cute little hiney just asking for it...and I didn't want to disappoint it." she blushed innocently. "Is the other cheek feeling neglected?" she raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips waiting for a reply.

"Ummmm I don't think so, but you know the rules, if your husband is in pain, you have to kiss it and make it all better" he pointed to his cheek but Sara stood there, mouth hanging down for a moment then slowly shook her head.

"I'll kiss a lot of things Mr. Gilbert Grissom but I am not kissing ass!" she crossed her arms over her expanded belly and stood her ground.

"I'm wounded..." he grabbed his heart in mock pain. "You hurt me and you leave me here in pain?" he was trying hard not to laugh now but his attempts at indignation were falling on deaf ears. Sara's eyes dropped to his cock which twitched under her gaze. "If you don't watch it honey, I'll leave you and him" she pointed between his legs "to fend for yourself" she took a step forward and he took a step back. "You'll have to take measures into your own hands..." she tentatively reached out her hand and ran a finger down his entire length watching him swell and harden at the contact. "And I'll simply sit there and watch..." she stepped forward again and he just about fell backwards trying to sidestep the bed that was suddenly in his way.

"You wouldn't... would you?" he had often fantasized about watching Sara pleasure herself and considered sharing his thoughts but tonight it seemed that once again, Sara was a step ahead of him as she slowly slipped off the blouse she was wearing.

"Oh, I so would...it's been a fantasy of mine to watch you bring yourself to orgasm while I watched." his mouth fell open. "Does that shock you?" she stepped forward once more and this time he misjudged his proximity to the bed and fell on it.

"Nooooooooo" he slowly reached down and wrapped his hand around his own cock, all the time watching her reaction. He started to slowly fist himself as she sat down in the chair across from the bed and eyed him, mesmerized by the fact that Gil was willing to fulfill yet another of her kinky fantasies. "Sara..." his hand worked up and at the tip he would flick his wrist just a bit, must the way she did when she used her own hands to bring him off. "What if I told you..." he breathed deeply "That I had the same fantasies..." his other hand reached behind him for a pillow so he could brace himself and watch her. Sara was listening intently and nodded slowly. She stood up and shed the shorts she had on and then her panties. Gently she sat back down and ever so maddeningly slow, she spread her legs and brought her hand down to her pussy.

"Is this what you wanted to see?" she used her fingers to spread the lips and expose the pink skin within and then gently she flicked the tip of her finger against her clit as she alternated between fingering her clit and then dipping one and then two fingers inside of herself. Gil swallowed hard as his hand continued its work and Sara started to moan.

"Ugh...I ... I dreamed of this..." she rocked against her hand and her eyes fluttered closed as her wet finger circled the nub of nerve endings.

"S...aaa...raaaa" he dragged out her name as his climax drew closer. "Open...your eyes..."his breath was coming in gulps. "How...close...are...areyou" his words told her that the moment was close at hand so to speak...and she herself was feeling like she was nearing the edge of a precipice. She dropped her hand to delve further inside herself and watched as he reached down and cupped his balls. They tightened to his body as his fist worked faster and a bit harder than even she had ever done. "sooo close...I'm soo..." he stiffened and shot ribbons of cum onto his belly and hand milking his shaft for all it was worth as Sara followed him over the edge...

"OooooooooohhhmyGOddddddddddd" she rocked into her hand and felt the walls of her pussy shudder and tighten on her fingers...she rode out her own orgasm as she tried to watch Gil's reaction to his own masturbation and self won climax...then when she was sure her quaking was finished, she quickly moved to the bed, dropped to her knees and proceeded to lick ever drop of his semen she could find from his cock, his stomach and then his fingers. Gil laid there wondering if he had just died and gone to heaven. When she sat up, she slowly licked her lips and smiled. Gil pulled her down and kissed her deeply. The love he had showing in his blue eyes.

"I love you Lucy" she laid on his chest and laughed.

"I love you too Fred!" she winked.


	72. Chapter 72

**A/N: **You know I can't give them too much touchy feel without some angst...admit it, that's why you're reading this story to begin with, because our Jorja/Sara is away and we have to keep the action going...so enjoy! Once again...thanks for the reviews, they rock my world and make me so want to write more and more...!!!!

**Disclaimer: I don't own them...but they're mine!**

Their lovemaking had been slow and gentle. For Gil it had been almost like a discovery at the changes her body was going through whlie carrying their children. She'd tried to turn the lights off but the most he would allow her was to dim them slightly.

"I like looking at you" he had murmured against her skin. "I love to see how your body had changed with the pregnancy" he felt her stiffen and immediately began placing small wet kisses on he growing abdomen and felt the babies kick in response.

"I look like I swallowed an entire basketball!" she moaned at the mere contact of his warm lips against stretched skin.

"You look like a beautiful woman, my beautiful woman, my wife, carrying my two beautiful children" he kissed her abdomen once more than scooted up the bed to plant a slow languid kiss on her lips. "And I love you...so very much..." he kissed her yet again, cupping her head in his hand and turning her head toward him. "For so long, I dreamed of this but honestly..." he swallowed hard. "I never believed I could have what...everyone else had...more than what everyone else had." he looked sad and she reached up and tenderly brushed her fingers across his cheek.

"You deserve it., you're going to make a phenomenal Father!" she smiled as he raised an eyebrow.

"You really think so?" she nodded and had him following suit "Yeah?" she nodded yet again and smiled warmly.

"Yeah., I don't think it, I know it..."She pulled him in for yet another kiss. "Now, how about you get up and make your wonderful, beautiful and oh so pregnant wife some breakfast...I'm thinking blue...berry... pan...cakes!" he laughed as she kissed him between syllables. He simply couldn't refuse her and stood up offering his hands to help her up off the bed. It was getting increasingly difficult for her to move as easily as she had earlier on in the pregnancy and Gil was always willing to lend a hand. It had almost become second nature to wait for her, getting in the shower, out of the tub, off the sofa, out of the bed...she was needing more and more assistance and he knew the day was coming when she wouldn't be able to do even the slightest field work. He wasn't about to ruin the mood by mentioning that anytime soon.

She scooted off to the shower, missing the fact they they could have showered together but her body was starting to crave things and she'd been awake the last hour wishing that he would suggest breakfast. He must have read her mind. He went downstairs, pulled out all of the ingredients she had purchased from the grocery story and the griddle then placing it on the stove to warm, headed out the front door to pick up the newspaper. The crisp air made him glad that he had thought to throw his robe on over the pajamas he had slipped into.

Coming back into the house, he noticed the blinking read light on the answering machine and absentmindedly pressed it as he walked by.

"_Drop the investigation, walk away and your wife and babies stay safe_!" The obviously disguised voice stated. "_Don't and you will live to regret it Mr. Grissom...it would be a shame to lose three members of your family to some...um.shall we say...unforseen accident?_" The voice went on "_It would be wise not to tell anyone of this contact...accidents happen all the time and you wouldn't want to lose your precious wife, son or daughter would you?" _

Grissom stopped and replayed the tape once again. Glad that it was an older machine, he swiftly removed and pocketed the tape and replaced it with a new one then walked into the kitchen forgetting what he was supposed to be doing. His heart was racing a mile a minute. How did this person know that Sara was pregnant with twins and even more shocking, they knew the sex of the babies. He wouldn't have thought twice about a threat against him, but to out and out threaten the lives of his wife and children...that was something he was not prepared to deal with. Whomever this person was, they knew too much about them for his comfort and his hands were shaking while he tried to pretend nothing was wrong as Sara entered the kitchen.

She had noticed the light off on the answering machine. "So who called?" He dropped the spatula at that, looked up at her and then tried to cover himself...Sara watched him closely, his mood had seemed to change since she last saw him upstairs.

"Williams College" he lied, something he swore he would never do to Sara, but the truth this time was something that could upset Sara, endanger his children and he wasn't willing to take that risk. He tried to change the subject. "How many pancakes would my darling wife like?" he whisked the batter and then set the bowl down beside the range. When she didn't answer immediately, Gil looked up and saw her standing on the opposite side of the island, biting her lower lip nervously. "Don't worry, I turned them down..I told you I'm not leaving my wife and children for a bunch of teenagers that don't have an interest in my class...but think they'll get an easy grade!" he tried his best to sound convincing but Sara wasn't buying it.

Sara knew something was up, she'd noticed the sideways glance between statements, it was something Gil wasn't even aware he did, but it was his tell and she caught it the moment she mentioned the phone call. She edged around the corner of the cabinet and sidled up to him. "So what did the phone caller really want?" He did it again, the eyebrow quirked and the words stuck on his tongue. He knew that if she had heard it, he would have been told about it, there would be no way she could hide it, but what if she had heard when coming down the steps? Had he even remembered to pull the bedroom door closed behind him? Perhaps she heard it from the upstairs landing? So many thoughts invaded his brain that he was for the moment, unable to answer her.

''I...I told you..." he stumbled over his words "it was the ... the college...Williams...they ugh...they wanted me to teach...like I...I told you!" she noticed a bit of sweat break out on his upper lip, a sure sign that something was wrong.

"Gilbert, look at me!" her voice was calm as she tried to muster the courage to force the issue. Something was up and it had to be pretty damned bad if he was willing to lie to her. He hesitated, put the whisk down in the bowl and oh so slowly looked up at her. "Would you care to amend your statement before I ask you flat out why you're lying to me?" His mouth opened, he was about to shake his head and then thought better of it.

"Leave it alone Sara!" he closed his eyes the minute the words came out of his mouth. He remembered back to a time when she had used the very same ones and he refused to do so. Now he was expecting her to drop the subject because he said so and he knew from the fire in her eyes, that wasn't likely to happen. She turned her back, ran a hand through her damp curls then spun on her heels and and walked over to the answering machine. Gil's hand, inside his robe pocket gripped the tape tightly. She pressed the button and found nothing on the tape that was in there. She picked up the machine, turned it over and checked the connections, finding them still intact, she once again pressed the play and then rewind button only to find it blank. She opened the cover and knew from the intake of breath, that Gil hadn't expected her to be so thorough.

"This isn't the tape I had in here!" she stood, hands on each side of the machine as she harshly shut the cover. She stood there giving him time to say something, anything... and the minutes ticked by. "I said...This Is NOT The Tape I Had In Here!" she raised her voice slightly and slowly turned to face him. She couldn't honestly tell if it was or not, but she was smart enough to know that if there was something he was hiding, this was the only way he would confess to it.

"I don't know what..." her raised finger as she stalked toward him stopped him mid-sentence. He swallowed hard and tried desperately to stand his ground while his hand fumbled with the tiny tape buried deep in his pocket.

"One!" she put the finger back up. "I'll never lie to you Sara!" she crossed her arms protectively over her stomach and waited.

"I'm not..." she put up two fingers instantly and he huffed out a breath, looked at his slippers., anything not to have to continue making eye contact with her. "Sara please, don't do this.." he reached for her hand but she pulled away and backed up. "Please I'm asking you,begging you... if you ever trusted me..." he saw her look up, tears forming in her eyes.

"You're asking me to trust you...but what trust are you showing me?" Her hackles were up now. "It has to be pretty God damned bad if you're going to stand there and lie to my face!" she swiped at a lone tear streaking down her face. "Was it Heather?" she wasn't giving in.

"No...Jesus no Sara...Why would you?" He was stunned that she even considered the former dominatrix. "How could you...?" Wrong thing to say...he regretted it immediately.

"You're standing here, lying to me, asking me...no...you're telling me to trust you. You've obviously switched tapes and you expect me to simply let it go?" He almost nodded but thought better of it. "you swore...no you promised me...you would NEVER, your exact words "NEVER LIE TO YOU SARA!" and you're doing that right now!" the feelings that coursed through her threatened to erupt and she covered her mouth with her hand, took a deep breath and felt the babies moving again. "How stupid do you think I am?" she slowly sat on the chair near the answering machine. More to keep from collapsing at the onslaught of emotions running through her.

"I don't think you're stupid Honey.." her head shot up at the endearment.

"Don't! Don't you dare call me Honey!" she went to stand up and felt suddenly dizzy and grabbed at the table. Gil instantly moved forward to steady her but she pulled back again from his touch. "Don't Grissom" _oh shit, she used our last name! But I'm trying to protect her...I'm trying not to upset her...but I'm failing...I can't tell her, it could cause her difficulties...I can't...but she knows I'm lying...i promised...I swore I would never knowingly lie to her...and I'm doing it...but I'm doing it for her safety and the health of the babies...that has to be worth something!" _"Sara please come sit down..." he tried to touch her yet again and she backed away. "I said Do...Not...Touch...Me!" she screamed at him and watched as he digressed and the hurt look on his face spoke volumes but she didn't care.

_Doesn't he see how much he's hurting me..? Us? I know he's hiding something...it has to be bad or he would tell me. He wouldn't lie to me if it wasn't...oh God what if it was a doctor? Maybe there's something wrong with me? The babies? What if it was something...with him? I can't lose him...but I can't lose my babies...he's lying, he knows I've caught him..he knows I know he lied...he's wants me to trust him but how can he expect that knowing that he's lying to me...out and out lying to my face!" _

Gil wondered what was going on in her mind but the smell of something burning caused him to turn away. The griddle had been left on and now the smell of overheated Calphelon permeated the room. Quickly he returned to the range and turned it off. When he turned back, Sara was gone!


	73. Chapter 73

A/N: It's a slightly short chapter but it answers a question...does he tell her or not...Thanks again for the support of all of you reading this., you rock...your reviews make my day and keep me sneaking in chapter after chapter.

Disclaimer: Pay the writers then I'll talk!

Gil looked in the downstairs rooms but when he heard noise coming from the bedroom, he took the stairs two by two and was just about out of breath when he arrived outside their bedroom door. Taking a deep breath, trying hard to keep it together, he opened the door and slipped inside. Sara had her suitcases on the bed and she was whipping things into it not caring that nothing was staying folded.

"Sara...please..." he stood, back against the door ready to block her path if need be.. "Is this what we've come down to? instead of trusting me your run away aga..." he caught himself but she didn't miss it.

"Again? You were about to say again? Is that what you thought last time was about? You?" she continued packing. Gil weighed his words carefully this time.

"I know it wasn't about me...but if you walk out that door...I can't protect you!" he head hung in defeat and she stopped momentarily.

"Protect me? Protect me?" she was so livid right now that she forgot to weigh her own words. "You did such a fucking great job...last..." and her eyes widened in horror as she realized exactly what she had just been about to say. She saw the slump of his shoulders as he walked into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. "Oh God!" she sat on the bed and wept. Gil stood before the mirror studying his reflection

_What's happening to us? When did I get so old? _He rubbed a hand across his chin and sighed. Apparently what he feared most, he'd been right in assuming all along. Sara did in fact blame him for Natalie being able to abduct her. Her words made that quite clear. His heart broke as he heard it from her very own mouth. _I failed her...Natalie grabbed her because of me...to hurt me...and in the process, she made Sara hate me...we can't go on this way., I have to protect her but she's lost her faith in me...I lost faith in me. If I can't protect my wife, what good am I to anyone else? I couldn't protect her, how the hell can I protect my children?" _he slumped against the counter and slid to the floor in tears.

Sara pressed her ear against the door and heard all his doubts coming to the surface. She knew she was responsible for his feeling like a failure because of a careless slip of the tongue. She hadn't meant it but she'd thrown it out there and now she wondered..._Do I really blame him? No of course not, no one knew who the Miniature Killer was, there was no way he could have protected me. Now he thinks he can't protect me now? But from what? What is he hiding from me?" _She gently knocked on the wood and waited then tested the knob. It turned giving her hope, he hadn't locked the door behind him as he'd done previously, when he was so pissed he didn't want to talk to her.

"Gil...?" She saw something she swore she never wanted to see again. Hopelessness clearly emanating from every ounce of his being. He sat there sobbing silently, head bowed on his knees. "Honey...please" she quickly moved over to him and knelt down before him leaning on his arms. She lifted a hand and caressed his cheek. "Gilbert please...look at me" she tried to lift his head but he turned away. "Okay if you won't look at me, and I don't blame you..." she sat down in front of him. "You're going to listen to me..." she waited but he refused to lift his head even an inch. His sobs had slowed to brief and intermittent hiccups. "You have never failed me...I had no right to say that...and I know you won't believe me now, I don't blame you for not believing me...but I know you tried to protect me from the Miniature Killer, you didn't fail, you had no clue who she was until it was too late, you did save me...

"Nick saved you...Nicky and Sophia.." he mumbled without raising his head. Sara's heart broke that he thought he played such a little part in her recovery.

"They might have found me, they might have gotten medical attention there but..." she touched his head and tapped at his temple..."I never told you, I almost gave up...not on you...but on me...Natalie told me that you would never love me as much as Ernie Dell loved her..." she felt him shift under her hand but not move away. "I figured maybe she was right..that I wasn't worth the effort...not that you would give up on me mind you...but" she paused "that I was too fucked up to be loved and maybe I was just holding you back from being with someone better.."

"There is no one Better for me you're the only one I've ever wanted...since I met you" more mumbling came from his direction.

"When I came to in the helicopter, the only thing making me fight was seeing you...I saw 'Grissom' on your vest and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was finally safe...because no matter what, you were with me...and knowing that, I could and can survive anything!" she touched his head again, running her fingers in his curls. "I never asked you to protect me Gilbert, you just did and if there is something you need to protect me from now., wouldn't it be better to know what the danger is so we can face it together?" she let the question sink in without another word. Slowly he raised his head, his eyes red and brimming with tears.

"I'm sorry I lied to you Sara..." his hands clenched and unclenched. "I never meant to lie to you, I just thought that I could...it would be...better...if...you didn't hear..." his head dropped to his arms again as he struggled with what he'd heard.

"It was on the tape wasn't it?" he nodded. "Let's go downstairs and listen to it together...then we'll face this head on like we always do..." she leaned on him as she stood up, almost losing her balance in the process from having sat cross legged to long. He steadied her with his hand then stood up beside her, his knees screaming the entire time.

"I'm sooooo sorry" he reached out and she enveloped him with her embrace. "I swore I wouldn't, I didn't mean to make you think ... " he looked into her eyes. "I don't think you ran away last time...because..." his voice cracked.

"I ran to face the demons of my past, just like I told you. I didn't want you to see me if I fell apart which was wrong...we're stronger together than we are apart and I know that now" she ran a soothing hand up and down his back. "I came back because I am where I need to be and the past is just the past...now...let's go face this together shall we?" he nodded and pulled his hand out of his robe. She saw the tape within his palm and gently took it from him.

"Are you sure...?" he knew when she heard the tape, especially the fact that the person making the threats was so precisely detailed., that there was no turning back.

"Is this because of the case you're working on?" she questioned as they walked down the step.

"Yes..." he guided her gently toward the answering machine, flipped the plastic lid open and switched tapes once again. Sara watched his stilted movements knowing that everything within in him did not want to share whatever was on that tape but he had to realize that he couldn't watch over her 24 hours a day and she was better being prepared knowing than not knowing.

She listened intently and leaned into his side for support when the caller identified her unborn children as both a male and female. She and Gil had shared that news with only a select number of people and those were people inside the lab with the exception of Heather who Gil had first asked her permission before sharing. "Gil, there has to be a leak in the lab." she sounded calmer than she actually felt at the moment.

"I was thinking the same, the only person I told about the babies sex was Heather, I mean outside the lab, the rest are all co-workers." his heart beat faster realizing that once again, someone he loved could possibly be under attack from someone working along side them. "I'm sorry I tried to hide this from you Sara...I just didn't want to upset you, we both seem to be having our share of bad luck lately." he knew it was an understatement but what else could he add.

"Well we're definitely going to have to get Archie involved, if anyone can take that tape apart, it's him." she and Gil both had absolute faith in Archie's meticulous work.

"We're going to have to limit the involvement in this Sara. Jim perhaps Catherine should know.." she shook her head. "I trust Nick and Warrick along with Greg, they should all be aware, it might not be too long that they're also targets." she sat on the sofa trying to think who else might have a vendetta against them.


	74. Chapter 74

** A/N:** Three chapters for your enjoyment today...thanks for the positive reviews and all the encouragement.

Sara and Gil shared a leisurely breakfast considering the fact that now Sara knew she was a possible target. She felt immensely relieved that even though it took the argument it had, Gil had finally chosen to include her in hearing the tape.

"I'm sorry Sara" he stated between a forkful of eggs., you know I was only trying to protect you" he was still feeling off balance about having shared the horror of her being a target and the undeniable truth that he had no clue as to who would be the one behind the murders and the call but he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were all intertwined now. He also wondered where a safe place would be to meet Jim and Catherine to fill them in. "I'm thinking Sara that we can fill in Brass and Catherine and let them tell the rest of the team..." he saw her raise her eyes about to say something "just hear me out on this..." he placed is fork carefully against the plate.

"We both have the same feeling, the person that's involved in this case is tied into the lab somehow, I don't know if it's an employee, the cleaning people or who but they know too much details to be coincidence." she nodded in agreement. "If we pull the whole team onto a case that doesn't require them, it will throw up some serious red flags but since Brass and Catherine both rotate througout the team more frequently then either of us..." she knew he was going to do whatever was necessary to keep her safe and if that meant in the lab., that would be where he'd keep her and she had the feeling that Catherine would not hesitate to agree.

"But even the lab may not be safe!" she pushed around her broccoli omelet, no longer having an appetite because of the conversation. "And staying home., that's not an option either at this point" they both knew it...

"I'm not doing field work unless absolutetly needed, I have plenty to keep me busy in the lab..."

"And keep a watch over me?" she winked.

"If that's what it takes to protect you...absolutely!" she knew it if meant laying down his life, he'd do it to protect her and the children and she loved him for it but the thought of it also caused her to worry about him. "I don't know if anywhere is safe...unless.." he immediately thought about sending her to visit with her Mother...

"Don't even go there Gilbert Grissom...I am not leaving, I'm not running..." she tossed her fork onto the plate where it bounced off and landed on the table scattering egg on the new placemats. "If I'm not the target, then you'd obviously be next in line and I'm not going to be anywhere except here if something happens." she reached across the table and took his hand. "We're in this together from start to finish, are you clear on that?" he nodded, not liking it but knowing there would be no other way.

"But if we tell Brass and Catherine, they'll work shift with the others and can tell them. We have no clue if they have anything bugged since they already warned me about bringing this to anyone else's attention. "We usually have breakfast with them on Tuesdays which is tomorrow..." he tailed off..."No, I'm not willing to divulge anything in the diner either..."

"Well we can't do it by cell phone just to be safe..." she stood up and waddled over to the dishwasher, holding plates in one hand and her back with the other. Gil sat there and smiled. She was beautiful on any given day to him but being pregnant with his two children., she was even more so if it was even remotely possible in his mind. Gil carried their glasses and the salt and pepper shakers to the cabinet. After placing the dishes in the dishwasher, the spices away and cleaning up the range, he put the glass cleaner away, folded the towel and turned to her.

"I just want to keep you all safe!" he opened his arms and she leaned into him warmed by his embrace.

"We need to go into the office and find out what we're missing on this case. There is some reason someone wants it dropped." she kissed him then pulled back. "I'm going to take a shower and then we can get ready to go in." she smiled and slipped from his embrace then started up the stairs. Gil walked to the keypad and made sure the security system was active. He knew he wouldn't be able to put anyone on his house, whoever was behind this would surely be able to spot even the most careful undercover cop.


	75. Chapter 75

Sara had worked nearly her entire shift with Catherine ever present by her side. It was just about starting to get to her. Not because the blond refused to let her out of her sight, she knew already that Gil had requested it personally. But Catherine started to ask why and she felt terrible having to constantly avoid the conversation.

"Okay Sara, why don't you and I go grab lunch?" she folded the binder that had been sprawled open between the two women. "We're not making any progress and until Archie can crack the code on that disc, we're at another standstill..." she saw something, a look of what, she wasn't sure but there was something there when she finally mentioned the case to Sara. "What's going on Sar? First Gil asks me to..." Sara quickly shushed her and then agreed to pick something up.

"Okay, okay I get it you're hungry and tired of staring at paperwork" she slowly slid off the chair and waited until the feeling returned to the leg she's had tucked under her butt. "Can we pick something to go I'm tired of sitting.." she hoped that Catherine would not question her further. She was more than sure that once she told Cath why she was being so evasive in the lab, she'd understand.

They took the Denali and Catherine was about to question her again when she saw Sara simply shake her head and put a finger over her lips. Taking that as a sign that something was going on but she didn't want to talk at the moment, Cath turned on the radio and headed down the strip looking for something they could both agree on.

"I can go for a tofu dog:" Sara stretched and they drove to a stand where she and Gil often picked up carry out on their way into the office. "They have the best and from what Gil says, the hot dogs are great as well." she wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

"You mean you actually let him eat meat?" Catherine couldn't remember having seen him eat anything but salads in the last few months.

"He's free to eat whatever he chooses Cath but he's the one that decided it was easier to cook meals we could share together, you do know it was because of that damned pig and the hamburger experiment...well it just pains me to think about it!" she rolled her eyes to emphasis how she felt. Catherine couldn't help but laugh.

"You changed your eating habits because of an already dead animal?" she couldn't fathom the thought that something that simple would make her give up hamburgers, hot dogs and other various meats. "Sara, they're humanely destroyed and delicious!" she teased watching the younger woman scrunch up her nose.

"You be a cannibal Catherine and I'll continue on with my vegetarian ways thank you!" she teased just as easily.

"What about the kids? They're certainly not going to be getting soy milk out of those..." her eyes fell on Sara's breasts for a moment and it suddenly occurred to her that they'd gotten larger in the last week or so.

"Stop ogling me Catherine!" she picked up a magazine from the seat and covered her chest.

"Has Gil noticed...ugh...those..." she pointed and Sara sat with her mouth wide open.

"Well he hasn't said anything but now that you mentioned them..." she pulled at the bra that was already too tight. "Do they normally seem to sprout overnight?" she shifted her shoulders trying to get comfortable.

"Well, mine did...and let me tell you, Brass was the first one to make an obscene comment." she laughed heartily. "Then Gil, well he tried his best not to say anything but when I walked into a room, his eyes were...well they bugged out the first time he saw them!" she remembered watching her friend stutter and try his best not to get caught staring at her. She had gone out of her way after that to make sure that she watched both his and Jim's expressions whenever she was in the room.

"They're sore...and God, they're in the way!" Sara shifted once again and couldn't seem to get comfortable. "I guess I'm going to have to consider new bras as well." she sighed.

"Well, I know a great store for those as well." Sara smiled knowing that if there was a store in the greater Las Vegas area, Catherine would be sure to know about it and have an opinion as to whether or not it was worth visiting. "They're really pretty reasonable, are you considering breast feeding Sara, I mean I was kidding but if you're considering it, you might just want to buy nursing bras and they'll carry you through the pregnancy and after instead of buying both." she remembered making the same mistake only problem was, with Eddie's history she hadn't been able to stay home during the entire maternity leave like she'd planned...she wound up working and actually going into labor while under the carriage of a 57 Chevy that was involved in a murder/suicide. She gave up any thoughts of staying home upon delivering after having to retrieve her baby from his friends, their neighbor and whomever Eddie had dreamed good enough that night to babysit..and when it came to his insatiable appetite for liquor and the ladies, the garbage man would have been fair game to be called in to watch Lindsey.

How long do you plan on working?" they arrived at the hot dog stand and both ladies exited the vehicle.

"Gil would like me to stay home now...but" she immediately thought back to the threat. "I need to talk to you Catherine, after we get our lunch...okay?" The blond smiled and nodded. They stood in line, Catherine got her usual, 2 dogs covered with mustard, onion and tomatoes, lightly seasoned with celery salt and a pickle on the side. Sara decided on two tofu dogs, sans the onions, double pickles on each dog, an order of onions rings, chocolate shake and just for good measure., she decided and ice cold slushee would also go good when she realized they carried grape flavored.

"You done there?" Cath paid for their order under protest from Sara then picked up some of the bags and headed to the Denali. Sara grabbed at her arm and smiled.

"Could we walk a bit?" Catherine looked puzzled but shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah, you sure your feet are up for it?" Whether or no they were wasn't the point, she wanted Catherine away from any possible prying eyes or ears at the moment and Cath picked it up the moment she spotted Sara looking over her shoulder. "Hey...Sara what the hell is going on? You look like a deer in the headlights there." she stopped to stare at the younger woman.

"You have to do me a favor Cath, you can't say anything inside the office, or the trucks...just to be on the safe side." she looked around again and had Catherine doing the same thing although what she was looking for was beyond her at the moment. "Listen, the case you guys are working on" Catherine thought for a moment between bites of her hot dog.

"Ummm ugh hu...the one with the three murders...Southwest International yeah, what about it?" she knew they were at a dead end on it at the moment and wondered if Gil had talked to her about it perhaps over dinner, trying to maybe get a take on the situation that had them all stumped.

"I...we, got a phone call, left on the answering machine., it was very detailed and threatening in nature..." she steadied herself against a post as she wrapped the remaining dog and onion rings inside the greasy bag.

"They threaten...who threatened...wait...who called?" she noticed Sara looked a little pale and looked around for somewhere they could both sit. "Come on, let's walk over there" she motioned to a bench near the fountains. "We can sit and talk there" she grabbed Sara's arm and led her in the direction she had pointed. When they were both sitting, she waited patiently for Sara to begin again.

"It was a man...or we think it was...but anyway., there was a message left on our answering machine.."

"Your home machine?" Catherine immediately went on high alert. "How the hell would someone get your number, it's unlisted right?" Sara nodded figuring it was better to let Catherine draw her own conclusions. "So it would have...oh shit...it has to be someone...inside?" her eyes opened wide, Sara nodded and Catherine saw shades of Natalie once again. "Oh Sara...that explains why Gil had me glued to you today...but the lab, it's not safe..."

"Neither is my home right now...and Gil was talking about me leaving...ya know, going back to San Francisco and staying with my Mother but I told him absolutely not...we face this together...and that's where you and Jim come in., you need to let the others from the team know without letting this get out in the lab or the cars for that matter." her glance fell on the Denali.

"What exactly did the tape say?"

Catherine wondered where the tape was at the moment but Sara quickly filled her in. "it threatened me and my two children, my son and my daughter to be precise...they were that detailed!" she absentmindedly rubbed at her stomach.

"Shit...shit, shit, shit...Oh Sara...I'm so sorry...why would..? Wait...why would you be the target if...Sara, think about it... you're not even working on the case with us, you've been on cold cases...what if...?" she didn't even want to complete that idea., not even go there but it was a very real possibility that Sara wasn't the target at all and it was simply a ploy to put everyone off guard of Grissom and with their focus on Sara...she just didn't want to go there but Sara quickly caught on.

"Grissom...you think he might be the real target don't you?" she hadn't even considered it but Catherine made sense, she had not touched the case., other than to hear Grissom speak about it on the phone or in the lab, and the fact that he was once again losing sleep over a case..and now probably even more so...she hadn't had anything to do with the case and an insider would have known it. Catherine nodded.

"And I'm willing to bet that Gil hasn't even considered it either." Sara picked up her cell phone but Catherine pulled it away.

"We don't know how they know what they do, I'm going to pick up phones from the drugstore, you know those pay as you go...we'll get them linked so we would be the only ones with them.. For now, I'd limit what you discuss on your phone" she picked up her own and looked closely at it. She realized that she needed to meet with Archie, if the vehicles were bugged, or their phones for that matter, he would be the one to find them and be able to disable them...or at the very least, use the information to their own advantage.


	76. Chapter 76

**A/N: **Okay, another chapter, just setting the stage for the action that will be following so bear with me as we begin yet another roller coaster ride. Thank you for the wonderful reviews., they keep me going..and going I must onto yet another chapter or two, or ten...hope you're all still with me and enjoying...

**Disclaimer: **He who has nothing, needs nothing, he who has csi, has everything...you greedy people!...LOL

Sara sat back in the Denali, slightly upset but more and more certain that perhaps Catherine was correct in her assumption that the phone call had been set up to make it appear she was the subject of their threats and in reality, it made more sense that Gil Grissom was actually the intended target.

"Cath, where were Gil and Brass working today?" she wanted so badly to warn him that she nearly forgot the lecture she got from Gil this morning at breakfast telling her that they had to be careful about tipping their hands.

"Sara, they're following up a lead for Ecklie!" was all she would say, not finishing the conversation, Sara quickly remembered and sat back biting the inside of her lip, Catherine reached over and gently squeezed her hand. Knowing that if she and Sara were right and Gil was the intended target, she was going to do whatever was required to protect her friend and that included putting in some overtime tonight with Archie and Warrick. She had ever intention of going over their Denalis one by one until she was sure that they were absolutely clean of any listening devices. She wasn't going to relive the Natalie Dell case again if she could avoid it.

When they returned to the lab, Catherine picked up a chart that she knew Archie had been working on and went to get him. Contemplating that she could be overheard, she decided the only way to get him away and not have it be suspicious would be to call him out on some work he had done.

"Archie, where are we on the Scialfa tapes?" She flipped the chart impatiently knowing that he had only started on them the previous night as a favor to Gil.

"Well, um...I haven't...I'm not..." he looked confused, normally being allowed to have free rein until he was finished with a project, his temper got the best of him...and that was exactly what Catherine was counting on now.

"Tell me, do we pay you to sit around evaluating games for your friends?" she would be apologizing for this later but right now she'd do whatever it took to get Archie outside the lab.

"Look, I play games on my lunch and only..." he was clearly taking the bait.

"I'm not doing this here Archie, I'd like to see you outside...right now!" she spun on her heels and disappeared down the hallway leading to the outside. Archie was speechless. The other lab rats were stunned but said nothing lest they be the next one on her shit list. Archie did not keep her waiting and came out ready to explain himself but was surprised by the immediate change in Catherine's demeanor.

"Listen Cath, about playing games..." she held up her hand to keep the illusion of being upset going but her voice softened.

"I'm not pissed at you Archie, just had to get you outside the lab." he looked around then back at the supervisor. "Apparently Gil has a tape he's going to need you to process, he's with Jim right now and the tape has a threat to Sara on it.

"Oh shit, not again.." they had all had a hand in researching Natalie and had grown closer since.

"Well, the threat was apparently made against Sara and the babies, they threatened, get this...her son and daughter!" she let the information sink in, Archie was quick on the uptake.

"Someone inside?" He felt the hair on his head prickle at the realization.

"Exactly, only...I haven't heard the tape so I'm not exactly sure what was said, Sara did she said they threatened her if Gil doesn't drop the Southwest International case they're working on.

"Sara wasn't...isn't involved in that case, she's been doing all that cold case work for Ecklie." Catherine prided her lab on the intelligent people they had working there and at moments like that, she was flattered that there were still members of the younger generation that actually used their heads.

"Sara and I are thinking, she was the threatened but Gil is probably the intended target."

"Ah..." Archie's brow rose. "Bait and switch!"

"Exactly...problem is, do you have the equipment to analyze the tape outside of the lab?" she was worried, she certainly didn't want to put too many people at risk but the first thing that needed to be done was to get hold of that tape, strip it down, top to bottom, left to right and she knew if anyone could, it was Archie.

"I should, I could run a patch to my laptop since it's never out of my possession, take home whatever I need to hook into the computers, I'll have to ping the signal so there is no chance of tracing my work but I think I could get it done tonight." He smiled, thrilled that he wasn't really on her shit list this time.

"I'm sorry I had to yell at you back there...but you're going to have to keep up the pretense that you're in trouble so we can get out of the lab...by the way, I'm going to need you for a few hours. I want to run some diagnostics on the Denalis, check if anyone has something planted in them. I'm going to have to figure out how to get you into Gil's home, we'd like that swept as well." she was going to do whatever it took to ensure the safety of the people in the lab.

"You bringing Ecklie into this?" Catherine shook her head and shrugged.

"I'll wait to talk to Grissom before making that call, we don't even think he's put two and two together yet."

"Meaning, he probably hasn't figured out he could be the actual intended!" Cath agreed with a nod. "Well, let me go in with my tail between my legs...you know there are going to be questions..." he winked.

"Make up anything you'd like...but make sure they know I'm pissed off, that way if I have to call you out again, they'll hesitate to follow." she clapped him on the back and left him to enter the building alone.

Gil and Brass had made it back to the lab and now that Jim had the tape in his hand, he needed to find a reason to pass it off to Archie without being seen. Warrick came in, pissed off at Tina once again and it was the perfect distraction.

"Damned woman, gonna be the death of me yet, said I'm supposed to pay her spousal support!" he slammed his hand into the wall and immediately found himself surrounded by David, Archie and Catherine. "We weren't even married all that long, she's got a good...no, she's got a great paying position at Desert Palm Hospital, drives a top of the line Mercedes and she's got the nerve to tell me that I need to figure out how the hell I intend to keep her living in the style she's grown accustomed to." he was ranting and raving and no one seemed to notice when Jim walked beside Archie, dropped the tiny cassette into his lab coat and then winked. Archie caught on immediately.

"Why don't you all go back to your jobs!" Catherine gave no leeway in the attitude she was portraying., she knew by the look on Jim's face that he'd accomplished exactly what was needed. "I'm sure Warrick doesn't need an audience and the County is not paying you to stand around gawking!" everyone scattered as quickly as they'd gathered.

"I don't get it Cath, how the hell did you deal with Eddie?" he seemed genuinely confused and if she hadn't had more pressing matters at the moment, she might have taken the time to actually comfort her friend and currently her secret lover.

"I raised his kid, worked two jobs...busted my ass and got a hearty...thanks for fucking nothing!" she waived him off and headed toward Gil's office. "I'll catch up with you in a bit." she tossed back to him before she made it out the door. Jim stood nearby shrugging sheepishly.

"Women!" he laughed knowing full well what Warrick was going through. Tina was pregnant but it sure and hell wasn't his baby. He remembered talking to him when he came in upset that he had accused her of cheating, only to hear her swear that she had innocently been planning a secret birthday party for him at the casino in which he had caught her in when she was supposed to be elsewhere. "You'll be best rid of her...the sooner the better" Warrick rubbed at the back of his neck feeling a tension headache arising.

"No shit...I don't know what the hell I was even thinking!" he looked at his now empty ring finger.

"That's the problem Ric my boy!" Brass came over and patted him on the back. "You were obviously thinking with the wrong head!" he chuffed out a laugh and disappeared behind Catherine. Mission accomplished for the moment.

"Catherine, what can I do for you?" he figured that all appearances needed to seem as normal as possible just in case they were being observed. Taking the hint, Catherine sat down in her usual spot before his desk and crossed her legs, leaning back heavily with a sigh. "I have to pick up Lyndsey today...she has a dress rehearsal for a musical she's in next week. I was hoping to get an idea what kind of video machine I could get to 'tape' the event." she hoped he would catch on. He slowly lifted his head and just the slightest quirk of a smile graced his lips.

"Perhaps Archie would be of better assistance in that area Cath, I'm sure he wouldn't mind 'dropping' everything to help out!" he put his head back down and began filling reports out again. "Nicky had a real nice camera, perhaps you could persuade him to lend it to you?"

"Yeah, only if you manage to pair us up this shift, he's been avoiding me since I brought up the entire Mandy issue with Sara..." she knew it was his way of saying that she'd get the opportunity to discuss the situation with Nick on shift tonight.

"Well Sara had her cold cases to work on, then she promised if she had time, she'd help me catch up on some of the reviews that we need to log in." his way of saying that he would be keeping a close eye on his wife tonight. "Vartann is back from vacation, I think he's splitting shifts with Brass tonight so don't be too surprised to see him instead of Jim later." he was making it abundantly clear that what needed to be discussed tonight with the entire team would be done strategically. "Brass promised to stick around and see if Warrick needs any back up and I'm just hoping to God that I don't get pulled into the field, I have so much paperwork that the Mayor stuck his nose in asking when it was going to get done., I can only get a backdate on so much!" he knew he was nearly caught up, but wanted anyone listening to think he was stuck in the lab because of work.

"Well, we have 20 minutes before shift is over, I for one am going to get my stuff together, unless a call comes in, Day Shift can handle it...so I'll see you tonight!" she stood up and headed toward the locker room. Looking around, she quickly headed into the auto garage and met up with Archie who had nicely informed Greg that they were going to be needed for awhile.

"What? I had a date tonight!" Greg lied but didn't want anyone thinking all he did was stayed at home playing video games alone., which was often times the case as of late.

"Too bad Sanders, we have some detailing to do, Grissom complained that his Denali smelled from something and I must have pissed off Catherine enough, it was this or an introduction to decomp...I'll take this thank you!" he looked at his coworker.

"And I get suckered into this why?" Greg was stepping into a pair of blue coveralls and pulling up the zipper.

"Well, you're the newest member of CSI, you get the job of teaching me the ropes I guess or, they couldn't get anyone to draw straws and take me on?" he laughed as he himself slipped into another set of the coveralls. "Also, Catherine is joining us tonight" he noticed the blond walking into the garage in similar wear.

"Greg, you get to show Archie how to detail a car tonight!" she opened up a folder that looked rather official but in fact was nothing more than some contracts she was overseeing for her deceased Father's business.

"I had a date!" he stomped his foot.

"Well, unless she knows how to detail cars, in that case I'd have you simply call her in..." Catherine was teasing him. "But since I know for a fact you told Nicky you just recently bought the latest NFL game for you set at home...I know...Sanders, no hot date...besides, I'm here to evaluate your teaching skills now that you're a CSI!" she sat on a stool and watched him. Greg puffed out his chest, stretched his arms in front of him, linked fingers than cracked his knuckles in unison...

"Then by all means, let the master get started young Jedi!" he handed a flashlight to Archie who simply rolled his eyes and got to work. If Greg wondered why he pulled out a 'reader' from his pocket, the look Archie shot him while the both worked on the drivers and passenger front of the vehicle was enough for him to keep any questions to himself.

Archie ran the device along every part of the vehicle, from top to bottom, side to side, between the seats, under them, in the back and then finally, rolling around on a roller board, he checked the undercarriage and under the hood before repeating the same process on the second and third Denali.

"If there's something Grissom is smelling in any of these cars, I can't find it...they're completely clean...so maybe he needs to get his nose checked?" he stood up apparently giving the illusion that the entire episode of supposedly detailing a vehicle had been a waste of his time. "Can I go back to my real job now?" he dropped the flashlight on the front seat of the last Denali and reached for the zipper of his coveralls.

"As long as you're sure that Gil's not going to find anything and start bitching at me again, I guess you can both call it a day...I'll see you after shift..and Greg, good work!" she turned and saw the surprised and confused look on his face. She knew he was going to be among the last to be told what exactly was going on.


	77. Chapter 77

**A/N: **Okay, another chapter, just setting the stage for the action that will be following so bear with me as we begin yet another roller coaster ride. Thank you for the wonderful reviews., they keep me going..and going I must onto yet another chapter or two, or ten...hope you're all still with me and enjoying...

**Disclaimer: **He who has nothing, needs nothing, he who has csi, has everything...you greedy people!...LOL

Sara sat back in the Denali, slightly upset but more and more certain that perhaps Catherine was correct in her assumption that the phone call had been set up to make it appear she was the subject of their threats and in reality, it made more sense that Gil Grissom was actually the intended target.

"Cath, where were Gil and Brass working today?" she wanted so badly to warn him that she nearly forgot the lecture she got from Gil this morning at breakfast telling her that they had to be careful about tipping their hands.

"Sara, they're following up a lead for Ecklie!" was all she would say, not finishing the conversation, Sara quickly remembered and sat back biting the inside of her lip, Catherine reached over and gently squeezed her hand. Knowing that if she and Sara were right and Gil was the intended target, she was going to do whatever was required to protect her friend and that included putting in some overtime tonight with Archie and Warrick. She had ever intention of going over their Denalis one by one until she was sure that they were absolutely clean of any listening devices. She wasn't going to relive the Natalie Dell case again if she could avoid it.

When they returned to the lab, Catherine picked up a chart that she knew Archie had been working on and went to get him. Contemplating that she could be overheard, she decided the only way to get him away and not have it be suspicious would be to call him out on some work he had done.

"Archie, where are we on the Scialfa tapes?" She flipped the chart impatiently knowing that he had only started on them the previous night as a favor to Gil.

"Well, um...I haven't...I'm not..." he looked confused, normally being allowed to have free rein until he was finished with a project, his temper got the best of him...and that was exactly what Catherine was counting on now.

"Tell me, do we pay you to sit around evaluating games for your friends?" she would be apologizing for this later but right now she'd do whatever it took to get Archie outside the lab.

"Look, I play games on my lunch and only..." he was clearly taking the bait.

"I'm not doing this here Archie, I'd like to see you outside...right now!" she spun on her heels and disappeared down the hallway leading to the outside. Archie was speechless. The other lab rats were stunned but said nothing lest they be the next one on her shit list. Archie did not keep her waiting and came out ready to explain himself but was surprised by the immediate change in Catherine's demeanor.

"Listen Cath, about playing games..." she held up her hand to keep the illusion of being upset going but her voice softened.

"I'm not pissed at you Archie, just had to get you outside the lab." he looked around then back at the supervisor. "Apparently Gil has a tape he's going to need you to process, he's with Jim right now and the tape has a threat to Sara on it.

"Oh shit, not again.." they had all had a hand in researching Natalie and had grown closer since.

"Well, the threat was apparently made against Sara and the babies, they threatened, get this...her son and daughter!" she let the information sink in, Archie was quick on the uptake.

"Someone inside?" He felt the hair on his head prickle at the realization.

"Exactly, only...I haven't heard the tape so I'm not exactly sure what was said, Sara did she said they threatened her if Gil doesn't drop the Southwest International case they're working on.

"Sara wasn't...isn't involved in that case, she's been doing all that cold case work for Ecklie." Catherine prided her lab on the intelligent people they had working there and at moments like that, she was flattered that there were still members of the younger generation that actually used their heads.

"Sara and I are thinking, she was the threatened but Gil is probably the intended target."

"Ah..." Archie's brow rose. "Bait and switch!"

"Exactly...problem is, do you have the equipment to analyze the tape outside of the lab?" she was worried, she certainly didn't want to put too many people at risk but the first thing that needed to be done was to get hold of that tape, strip it down, top to bottom, left to right and she knew if anyone could, it was Archie.

"I should, I could run a patch to my laptop since it's never out of my possession, take home whatever I need to hook into the computers, I'll have to ping the signal so there is no chance of tracing my work but I think I could get it done tonight." He smiled, thrilled that he wasn't really on her shit list this time.

"I'm sorry I had to yell at you back there...but you're going to have to keep up the pretense that you're in trouble so we can get out of the lab...by the way, I'm going to need you for a few hours. I want to run some diagnostics on the Denalis, check if anyone has something planted in them. I'm going to have to figure out how to get you into Gil's home, we'd like that swept as well." she was going to do whatever it took to ensure the safety of the people in the lab.

"You bringing Ecklie into this?" Catherine shook her head and shrugged.

"I'll wait to talk to Grissom before making that call, we don't even think he's put two and two together yet."

"Meaning, he probably hasn't figured out he could be the actual intended!" Cath agreed with a nod. "Well, let me go in with my tail between my legs...you know there are going to be questions..." he winked.

"Make up anything you'd like...but make sure they know I'm pissed off, that way if I have to call you out again, they'll hesitate to follow." she clapped him on the back and left him to enter the building alone.

Gil and Brass had made it back to the lab and now that Jim had the tape in his hand, he needed to find a reason to pass it off to Archie without being seen. Warrick came in, pissed off at Tina once again and it was the perfect distraction.

"Damned woman, gonna be the death of me yet, said I'm supposed to pay her spousal support!" he slammed his hand into the wall and immediately found himself surrounded by David, Archie and Catherine. "We weren't even married all that long, she's got a good...no, she's got a great paying position at Desert Palm Hospital, drives a top of the line Mercedes and she's got the nerve to tell me that I need to figure out how the hell I intend to keep her living in the style she's grown accustomed to." he was ranting and raving and no one seemed to notice when Jim walked beside Archie, dropped the tiny cassette into his lab coat and then winked. Archie caught on immediately.

"Why don't you all go back to your jobs!" Catherine gave no leeway in the attitude she was portraying., she knew by the look on Jim's face that he'd accomplished exactly what was needed. "I'm sure Warrick doesn't need an audience and the County is not paying you to stand around gawking!" everyone scattered as quickly as they'd gathered.

"I don't get it Cath, how the hell did you deal with Eddie?" he seemed genuinely confused and if she hadn't had more pressing matters at the moment, she might have taken the time to actually comfort her friend and currently her secret lover.

"I raised his kid, worked two jobs...busted my ass and got a hearty...thanks for fucking nothing!" she waived him off and headed toward Gil's office. "I'll catch up with you in a bit." she tossed back to him before she made it out the door. Jim stood nearby shrugging sheepishly.

"Women!" he laughed knowing full well what Warrick was going through. Tina was pregnant but it sure and hell wasn't his baby. He remembered talking to him when he came in upset that he had accused her of cheating, only to hear her swear that she had innocently been planning a secret birthday party for him at the casino in which he had caught her in when she was supposed to be elsewhere. "You'll be best rid of her...the sooner the better" Warrick rubbed at the back of his neck feeling a tension headache arising.

"No shit...I don't know what the hell I was even thinking!" he looked at his now empty ring finger.

"That's the problem Ric my boy!" Brass came over and patted him on the back. "You were obviously thinking with the wrong head!" he chuffed out a laugh and disappeared behind Catherine. Mission accomplished for the moment.

"Catherine, what can I do for you?" he figured that all appearances needed to seem as normal as possible just in case they were being observed. Taking the hint, Catherine sat down in her usual spot before his desk and crossed her legs, leaning back heavily with a sigh. "I have to pick up Lyndsey today...she has a dress rehearsal for a musical she's in next week. I was hoping to get an idea what kind of video machine I could get to 'tape' the event." she hoped he would catch on. He slowly lifted his head and just the slightest quirk of a smile graced his lips.

"Perhaps Archie would be of better assistance in that area Cath, I'm sure he wouldn't mind 'dropping' everything to help out!" he put his head back down and began filling reports out again. "Nicky had a real nice camera, perhaps you could persuade him to lend it to you?"

"Yeah, only if you manage to pair us up this shift, he's been avoiding me since I brought up the entire Mandy issue with Sara..." she knew it was his way of saying that she'd get the opportunity to discuss the situation with Nick on shift tonight.

"Well Sara had her cold cases to work on, then she promised if she had time, she'd help me catch up on some of the reviews that we need to log in." his way of saying that he would be keeping a close eye on his wife tonight. "Vartann is back from vacation, I think he's splitting shifts with Brass tonight so don't be too surprised to see him instead of Jim later." he was making it abundantly clear that what needed to be discussed tonight with the entire team would be done strategically. "Brass promised to stick around and see if Warrick needs any back up and I'm just hoping to God that I don't get pulled into the field, I have so much paperwork that the Mayor stuck his nose in asking when it was going to get done., I can only get a backdate on so much!" he knew he was nearly caught up, but wanted anyone listening to think he was stuck in the lab because of work.

"Well, we have 20 minutes before shift is over, I for one am going to get my stuff together, unless a call comes in, Day Shift can handle it...so I'll see you tonight!" she stood up and headed toward the locker room. Looking around, she quickly headed into the auto garage and met up with Archie who had nicely informed Greg that they were going to be needed for awhile.

"What? I had a date tonight!" Greg lied but didn't want anyone thinking all he did was stayed at home playing video games alone., which was often times the case as of late.

"Too bad Sanders, we have some detailing to do, Grissom complained that his Denali smelled from something and I must have pissed off Catherine enough, it was this or an introduction to decomp...I'll take this thank you!" he looked at his coworker.

"And I get suckered into this why?" Greg was stepping into a pair of blue coveralls and pulling up the zipper.

"Well, you're the newest member of CSI, you get the job of teaching me the ropes I guess or, they couldn't get anyone to draw straws and take me on?" he laughed as he himself slipped into another set of the coveralls. "Also, Catherine is joining us tonight" he noticed the blond walking into the garage in similar wear.

"Greg, you get to show Archie how to detail a car tonight!" she opened up a folder that looked rather official but in fact was nothing more than some contracts she was overseeing for her deceased Father's business.

"I had a date!" he stomped his foot.

"Well, unless she knows how to detail cars, in that case I'd have you simply call her in..." Catherine was teasing him. "But since I know for a fact you told Nicky you just recently bought the latest NFL game for you set at home...I know...Sanders, no hot date...besides, I'm here to evaluate your teaching skills now that you're a CSI!" she sat on a stool and watched him. Greg puffed out his chest, stretched his arms in front of him, linked fingers than cracked his knuckles in unison...

"Then by all means, let the master get started young Jedi!" he handed a flashlight to Archie who simply rolled his eyes and got to work. If Greg wondered why he pulled out a 'reader' from his pocket, the look Archie shot him while the both worked on the drivers and passenger front of the vehicle was enough for him to keep any questions to himself.

Archie ran the device along every part of the vehicle, from top to bottom, side to side, between the seats, under them, in the back and then finally, rolling around on a roller board, he checked the undercarriage and under the hood before repeating the same process on the second and third Denali.

"If there's something Grissom is smelling in any of these cars, I can't find it...they're completely clean...so maybe he needs to get his nose checked?" he stood up apparently giving the illusion that the entire episode of supposedly detailing a vehicle had been a waste of his time. "Can I go back to my real job now?" he dropped the flashlight on the front seat of the last Denali and reached for the zipper of his coveralls.

"As long as you're sure that Gil's not going to find anything and start bitching at me again, I guess you can both call it a day...I'll see you after shift..and Greg, good work!" she turned and saw the surprised and confused look on his face. She knew he was going to be among the last to be told what exactly was going on.


	78. Chapter 78

A/N: Sorry for the duplicate chapters, this is the chapter that should have uploaded but the new computer that I'm using is driving me absolutely insane...sorry again and enjoy. I will post another chapter or two tonight because I made you all wait and I'm just excited to get this story rolling...again and again...

Everyone gathered before shift, Sara was reading a folder on a 3 year old case that had never been solved. The victim was a freelance computer geek who'd been found in his kitchen with a knife in his back. Not a single print was found on the knife handle or blade, it appeared to not belong to any set of knives on the premises. There had been no evidence of forced entry and other than the victim, nothing seemed out of place in the house. A single man, one Arron Tipton, 35 on his way up the proverbial charts, capable of writing some of the most complex programs. He apparently had no enemies, very little social life and as far as Sara could tell, a very promising career ahead of him. Some of the biggest corporations had courted him offering everything from cars and luxury homes with relocation expenses to vacations in exotic locals. Sara felt the bells and whistles ringing the moment she found a similar pattern to the case that Gil was involved in.

A few phone calls later and an apparent slip of the tongue by one of his few friends, tipped her off even further.

"I don't know who would have harmed Arron, honestly I don't Miss Sidle. (Sara often used her maiden name when talking to the family of suspects on the phone so the lab would be able to differentiate which Grissom had spoken to whom. "I mean, he was into all those computer games and graphics of course and God, the job offers flew in so much so that he had changed his number twice and gotten an answering machine to handle the overflow. In fact, when he died, the building manager needed to get rid of all of his stuff, since I didn't know any of his family members, I've been keeping it in storage with my stuff...ya know...just in case...he had me listed as an emergency contact...that's why I got it." she sounded like she had to have an excuse but Sara understood that in her position, she might feel exactly the same..

"I know this is a personal question...but, were you and Mr. Tipton involved?" Sara sat scratching doodles on the top of the pad of paper she had taken notes on.

"Oh...hell no! God, not my ... type, gender really...!" she sounded flushed.

"I'm sorry...I just...well, sometimes when someone puts you down as emergency contact..." Sara was even more curious now, was it she or Mr. Tipton that was more gender specific. "Do you know anyone he might have been involved with.?" she needed more information but she wasn't comfortable coming right out and asking.

"Oh...I'm straight...sorry, it was Arron that ... I guess I should have phrased it better, I wasn't his type...his idea of the perfect date...Brad Pitt look alike and I mean...in 'every way' if you get my drift!" she smiled as she thought back to evenings the two of them had spent in clubs searching out the perfect dates. Often times Amber Winfred would pick out a guy and start telling Arron her fantasies and he would warn her off.

"Not your type honey...!" he would tease her then quickly order her a drink and reassure her that someday the right man would be out there for both of them..."Only, my man better not be your man!" he rubbed her back and smiled..."I don't like to share!" Amber took it all in good fun knowing that Arron wouldn't have hurt a flea.

"He was a sweetheart Ms. Sidle, I have no idea why anyone would have done what they did..." she felt weepy again. "It's just a shame, he had so much promise, he was going places..." she sat back sobbing into the phone, the pain of losing a good friend as fresh today as when it had originally happened.

"Miss Winfred..."

"Amber, you can call me Amber ... please!" she sounded almost desperate to have some connection to people.

"Amber, do you think it would be possible to look through Arron's things sometime soon?" Sara was hoping that maybe the police had overlooked something.

"Sure...um...I'm home this weekend if it would be good for someone to come out...I can give you my address..." Sara looked around and then thought better of taking the number while she was on an interoffice phone.

"Amber, let me clear my schedule, I'll call you sometime this afternoon if that's okay...?" she pocketed the papers she'd been scribbling on, no sense in leaving anything behind that could tie in yet another lead. She knew she'd have to talk to Gil about this latest development before she'd be allowed to interview Amber and go through Arron's possessions.

"Yeah, that's fine...I haven't got much planned for tomorrow...or tonight for that matter..." They hung up with Sara promising to call her as soon as she knew when they could get around to talking to her and checking out a few things. Then she tried to figure out what she was going to tell Gil. She placed the folder in the new safe that Gil had installed in her office and decided to catch him when they could go for lunch and talk privately.

Half way through shift, Gil decided to check and see if Sara was interested in grabbing lunch. He found her bent over her desk trying to chart something.

"What is my lovely bride doing?" he leaned against the door frame, much as the way she had in the past when hanging around his office.

"Trying to fit a round peg in a square hole!" she had gathered the other charts from Catherine's desk and was trying to match similarities in both cases. The key issues was they were all found in their kitchens, similar knives were used., brought in by the killer and left behind almost like a souvenir. Sara had the distinct feeling there would be more deaths before they solved this...these cases. There had never been a sign of forced entry in any of the cases. Three were involved with Southwest International.

"What has you puzzled?" he scooted in beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. To casual observation, it would see no more than a co-worker resting his arm on the back of her chair. To the more informed it was a gesture of comfort and the nearest thing to a loving embrace that Gil would offer inside of the office...unless either of them really needed a 'moment' then they would quietly slip into his office under the pretense of having a conversation and relish a moment of togetherness. It didn't happen often but when it did, Gil knew how much the small amount of interaction could refresh a dragging body.

"Just something I came across in a cold case..." she looked around "I think I have a taste for a hot dog!" she smiled. Gil caught the look, knowing she would never refer to the dreaded meat product, he quickly surmised the meaning that she wanted out of the lab

"Well I know just the place my Dear!" he reached out and took her hand. Noticing that she kept some paperwork in her other hand, he knew that this was going to be a business lunch instead of a casual husband and wife meeting. "Follow me..." he gently placed a hand at the small of her back and led her from the lab. He decided to take his own car this time and Sara knew immediately that Gil was on the same page. When they slipped inside, she sat back sighed.

"I think one of my cold cases might be involved with the one you're working on." she pulled out the notes she'd taken. "Same MO" she unfolded the paperwork. "I talked to his emergency contact and she told me he was being pursued by some of the biggest companies in Vegas and around the world for the programs he worked on and wrote" she saw his jaw tense. "She said that she was called as his emergency contact and when the police were finished, she was the recipient of his belongings...she's had them in storage and I was thinking..."

"No!" was his gruff response before she even got the suggestion out of her mouth. "Absolutely not...don't even think about it Sara" he knew exactly what she was thinking and though slightly offended, she understood his concerns.

"About that..." she wondered if Catherine had said anything to him..."Catherine and I were talking as you know..." she saw him working his jaw again..."anyway, we both came to the same conclusion..and before you go off., let me explain okay?" she touched his arm as he drove down the road. She watched his hand clench tighter on the steering wheel. "Think about it Gil, I haven't so much as touched this case...but they threatened me" he nodded, how could he forget, it had caused another huge fight between them. "I don't think I'm the target Gil, I think they threatened me to throw us off of the real target." she hated the feeling this case was causing. "I, well Cath and I both believe that you're the target..." he turned his head nearly driving into the curb.

"Why the hell would I be the target?" his voice raised more so in aggravation that it hadn't been a thought that crossed his mind since he heard the threat on the tape.

"You're lead CSI on this, you're the reason this lab is number 2 in the country. You're the one most likely to solve this case if given enough opportunity." she held up fingers as she listed the reason. "You have the most to threaten you with...and try to control you but I don't want that to interfere in how you go about working on this case, do you understand that? I want closure for the victims and I want the son of a bitch that is responsible brought to justice and the asshole that had the gall to threaten me and my...our children!" she was getting upset with each word and Gil reached out and took her hand. "You would be the one to dig up similarities in each case...and this one that I found, it reeks of the same cover up!" she sat back having said her peace.

"So, Catherine is convinced as well?" She nodded glad that he was willing to listen. "Why threaten you?"

"Control, a means to an end, a way to get you to concentrate on me and not think of you being the intended, drop your guard, and they grab you...or whatever they have plans, I for one am not going to sit back and let that happen...do you understand me?" Gil smiled, he knew she would protect him anyway she could as he would have for her.

"Sara, listen to me, I'm glad that you told me about it, in all honesty, I've been so worried about you, I had not thought of myself being the target.." it would have been impossible for him to admit something like this years ago. The great Gil Grissom not foreseeing something..that had to be a record. "But with the exception of Greg, everyone on team now knows about the threat to you..."

"And until we tell them might not come to the same conclusion we did..." she crinkled the corner of the paperwork and smiled nervously.

"We have a very smart team Sara..." she shut up, didn't want to say it..

_"If they're so smart Gilbert, how is it they missed us being together until I was kidnapped? If they were so smart, why hadn't you thought about the possibility that you were the most likely target as opposed to me?" _She simply shut her mouth and didn't add anymore. She should have known that Gil would take her silence as something to be deciphered.

"You shouldn't think that way Sara...you can't take the team missing us as any indication of their ability to solve a crime!" He winked at the look of astonishment that her dropped jaw conveyed. "Or the fact that I didn't even consider me..." he laughed as she gaped at him.

"How the hell do you do that Gilbert Grissom?" she was obviously stunned that he could read her so well after all these years.

"I pay attention ... now!" he rubbed her arm and smiled warmly at her "Ready for a hot dog?" he teased with a wink and grin.

"You cannibal!" she joked with him and they exited the vehicle to grab lunch together. Walking to the stand, they held hands and she pressed into his side. "I love you but if you eat meat...you had better plan on brushing those teeth for an hour today!" she knew he wouldn't order meat in her presence but she wanted him to know, if his choice was a normal hot dog, she was okay with it. She was equally surprised when he did just that.

"Two, mustard, onion and tomato, pickle on the side...and a large diet" he chuckled as he hugged her "And my wife..." he loved to say it now and being able to do it openly never got old with him.." She'll have two tofu dogs, onion rings and a large diet" he looked at her waiting to see if she added anything to her order.

"The young pimple faced boy behind the counter recognized her from the day before. "Will you want anything extra? Fries? Chocolate Shake? Pizza puff?" Sara put her head against Gil and shook her head no. The look on Gil's face was priceless...

"


	79. Chapter 79

**A/N:** hopefully this chapter will be the start of all the 'fun' our team is going to be going through, I'm working hard to carefully tie all the ends together so they flow...thanks for the patience...and the support...hope you are still enjoying my work.

**Disclaimer:** When you settle the strike, I'll give Gil back...yeah right!

Gil and Sara both had the evening off. The rest of the team were being blessed with an overly quiet night so Gil paged them and they decided to meet for a quick dinner, touch base and bounce ideas off of each other. Sara was glad he was willing to include her.

"I'm just worried that if we're being watched, they might wonder why we're all together, if it's someone in the lab..."

"Which I'm sure it just might be" Gil added. "But, we're going to have to all get together and sort this through, who has the most to gain, does anyone have ties to Southwest Internation? So many questions but if it keeps you safe..."

"And you Bugman!" she reached out and laid her hand along his thigh as he drove. "I'll do anything to keep you safe!" and he knew she meant every word.

The group gathered with the information they had. Surprisingly, Brass was able to make the meeting and they all sat in the round corner booth furthest from the door but with a clear view of any patrons coming in. When they were all gathered, they started by ordering appetizers and then got down to business.

"Catherine and Sara think that I might be the intended target." Gil quickly cut to the chase.

"Why?" Greg sat upright sipping his water. "What would anyone gain by threatening Sara if you're the intended target?" he was genuinely upset that any member of the team was being threatened. "Brass filled me in on the way here." he saw Gil and Sara exchange glances knowing he had been the last to discuss anything with.

"Well, for starters, if you wanted to throw someone off, threaten the person that means the most to them" Brass tossed out the obvious, or what was now pretty obvious since Catherine and Sara had hit on the notion. "Gil has the most to lose so the best way to control him...threaten his wife and children!"

"Where are we on the tape Archie?" Gil picked up a cheese stick, dunked it in the marinara sauce and took a bite off the end, Sara quickly grabbed the remaining piece and popped it into her mouth with a satisfied sigh. "Mine!" he teased her wiping off a dab of sauce on her lips then without thinking, he simply brought the finger to his mouth and sucked it clean. Everyone stared at him.

"Well, we knew the voice was altered, nothing came of that. I did however pick up some abient noise, sounded a lot like it was coming from a phone inside the airport. When I dropped the voice and cleaned it up, you could clearly make out departure and arrival times but I have more work to do as far as the dates and stuff." he took a drink of water looking rather nervous. "I would have gotten further but I can't work on it in the lab, a friend is letting me use his place." he saw a strange look pass over Gil and Catherine's face. "I have no choice guys, I know you want as few people involved as possible but in order to get the most off this tape, I need equipment that is either in the lab which is a no go or my friends place, he'd put the lab to shame with some of his audio equipment." he sat back. "I won't have him with me while I work on it...he knows it is classified so while he's out on a date, I'll be busy at his home..." Gil nodded a bit more reassured that Archie was taking as much precautions as the rest of the team.

"Sara found something in a cold case from three years back..." he turned to her letting her devulge what she'd found.

"Victim was a 35 year old white male, Arron Tipton, apparently free lanced in the program writing department for games and whatever else he felt like working on., a real computer geek slash genius as his friend Amber Winfred claimed. She was the receipient of his personal effects after the coroner

released his body and the cops were done with him...she still has them and I was thinking..."

"NO!" was the resounding affirmation at the table. Sara sat with her mouth agape knowing that Gil hadn't had time to even discuss this with his team yet they all jumped on the bandwagon against her at the same time. To say she was stunned but understanding was an understatement.

"Look, I had a repore with Amber..." the eyes shot up again..."Ms. Winfred, she asked that we call her Amber...anyway" she picked up her glass of water to give them time to settle down. "She said he was being courted so much from major companies and international companies here and abroad. It apparently got so bad, he changed his number several times, stopped taking cellphone calls and bought an answering machine to handle to flow. She has all his things...including the answering machine and I was just thinking..." again all faces turned to her shaking their heads. "Would you all stop treating me like I was made of glass?" The first look she shot was directed at her husband, then Catherine, Brass and the rest of the team. "I told Gil and I'm telling you...any threat against me, my...our children or my husband...or friends" she pointedly reminded them that they were more than a team, they were indeed the only real family she had. "and you are going to get more than you can handle., I don't see what the big deal is if say Jim comes with me and I interview Amber..." she purposely stressed the girl's name this time. "I talked in great detail with her on the phone, sounds like even though Arron batted for the other side, she and he were pretty tight."

"You sure it wasn't a hate crime, him being gay and such?" Greg answered first.

"Unless our other vics were gay, I doubt it. The same brand of knife was used, brought with, not part of any cutlery found on premesis." She reinterated the facts that she knew. "Handle was sticking out of the victims back, he was found, face down in the kitchen, no signs of forced entry...tells me he might have known his killer, also there was no sign of a struggle like the others, makes me think they were comfortable enough to turn their backs on whomever did them in." she tapped her finger on the sheet of paper laid in front of her. "I'm thinking, with all the phone calls, just say...someone from Southwest was courting him to come on board...my guess...they might have left a message on the answering machine." she sat back having said all that came to mind.

"And you're thinking of interviewing her and digging through Arron's belongings?" Brass smiled, he knew her better than she thought. Sara looked like a deer in the headlights on that note. "And Uncle Brass can go with you and keep you safe!" his comment this time was directed at Gil who looked like he wanted to kill Jim for a moment. "Did I say I agree with this?" He heard everyone just about hold their breath at the table. "Well, I happen to think that since Sara already talked to the girl, why bring in someone else if she's comfortable with her?" Sara mouthed _Thanks Jim _and waited for Grissom's response.

"Why doesn't Catherine..." Sara looked at him and then Catherine who decided to keep her mouth shut and opinions to herself right now. "Well, she could go with you, just incase you have to move anything heavy...better take Nick with you as well." she sat back and slowly and methodically folded her napkin, crease by crease spread under her hand. Catherine already knew what was coming as did the guys. Sara reached into her purse and withdrew her cell phone. Flipping open the lid, she began dialing a number and Gil sat there staring at her.

"Conrad, this is Sara...Grissom's wife, ya know Sidle-Grissom whatever you call me now...I was wondering if you and the rest of the lab would like to accompany little pregnant old me to an interview that might have to do with the killing spree Catherine and Gil are handling!" she listened as if she were really talking to someone but she hadn't pressed the send button. "by the way, why don't you see if your wife and Al can join us as well, oh, don't forget to invite Al's wife too, just incase I have to bend down and tie my shoes between interviewing the person and going through the victims personal belongings...Thanks Conrad I will see you soon!" she closed the phone and put it back in her purse.

"Okay...okay Sara I get it...but you're taking Greg!" he picked up his fork and brought a mouthful of salad to his mouth. "If you don't like that, take it up with your supervisor...!" he chewed slowly and saw Catherine smirk. Sara sat back deciding that while she won the battle, she wasn't going to win the eventual war so she was satisfied for now with her small victory.

They finished lunch and Sara called Amber to set up a time she, Greg and Brass would be able to come to chat with her. At first she seemed a little hesitant to have so many people pawing through Arrons' things but when Sara explained that having a Police escort was normal and Greg was there to make sure that she being pregnant didn't lift anything to heavy Amber gave her address and set up the time.

"We're on for 8 tonight, she said she had his property at her house so we should be good to go and be back in time for a quick snack before shift starts." she reassured Gil who was still non to pleased about the entire thing. "We'll be back before you know it." she leaned in for a kiss and was surprised when instead of giving her that '_we're in public and can't do this Sara _look, he put his hand behind her head, cupping it gently he pulled her in for a more intense kiss.

"You be careful, if anything sounds weird get the out of Dodge and let Brass do his thing.

Brass decided to drive, having already put his life on the line by agreeing to this meeting while accompanying Sara and Greg. They had finished lunch, went back to the office to gather anything else that might be pertinent to the case and then each drove home. Sara knew Gil would be coming home right behind her but instinct what is was, she took great precaution making sure to look around before she entered the garage and quickly closed the door behind her. She walked into the house and hurridly reset the alarm lest she get another lecture from Gil about why it was installed in the first place to which her answer at the time had been rather smart assed. _"It was already installed when we bought the house Gilbert!" _She saw him shake his head, walk away and lock himself in his office for the next four hours. She realized that day that something like her safety was something Gil did not take lightly nor did he like to joke about it.

The black SUV swept past the house twice watching as lights went on and off in different room. It hadn't been easy to get the layout of the house since it was originally custom built and not the normal 'cookie cutter' house that seemed to crop up in most neighborhoods. The only difference being the facing, color or different roof tiles but in the end, the people following her were able to get blueprints and had a general idea where Sara was moving about in the big house without her knowledge.

"You know what they say "Knowledge is power" the passenger said in a mocking tone to the driver as he studied the smaller version of the house' blueprints. "And power is not for the faint hearted either!" The driver added as he made one more drive past before heading to some unknown destination.

"


	80. Chapter 80

Sara had time to toss in a load of laundry, let Bruno out and of course, his little charge who they named Regan stood with her little pink nose pressed against the thermal glass patio doors mewing pitifully because Sara had separated her from her surrogate Mommy. Bruno had taken his job seriously and the kitten was cleaned and bathed after every meal and could usually be found either asleep by his belly, under his chin or pouncing and stalking imaginary prey from his head or back. All in all, the big Boxer took everything in stride with the little one and Sara couldn't have been happier until the day Bruno decided that if the kitty could use the litter box on a rainy day, then dammit, so could he. Gil had doubled over in hysterics while Sara had chased him from the kitchen with a broom yelling the entire time.

"What the hell makes you think you can shove your fat ass over a little plastic pan and shit in my house you slobbering bucket of drool!" she had to chase him around the dining room and family room before he relented and allowed Gil to catch him. Sara had taken him by his collar and proceeded to push him out the sliders slamming them before he could come back and finish. Gil couldn't help laughing, the dog dashing madly around, sliding on the throw rugs and wooden floors, the little kitten mad on his tail and Sara waddling up the rear waving a broom like a mad woman. It was funny until she turned around and smacked him across the ass with the broom. "You keep laughing Mister and you'll find your ass out on that deck too!" she realized upon turning toward the rain drenched Boxer that in her haste to get him out, she'd managed to lock Regan out there as well and the little fur ball was now a shivering mass of kitten. "Oh baby, I'm sorry...Mommy wasn't trying to chase you out.." she tried to block the Boxer when she opened the sliding doors just enough for the kitten to scoot through but Bruno wasn't having anymore of the rain and pushed her out of the way. Thank God she'd been squatting down when she did this because he ever so nicely knocked her on her ass.

Gil would have laughed had she not been pregnant but the minute he saw her on the floor his attitude changed, he grabbed the Boxer and immediately sent him to his crate in the downstairs laundry room and slammed the door behind him. Quickly he ran over to Sara who was sitting on the floor still, wet kitten cradled in her hand while it's little feet balanced on her belly. "Sara are you okay?" he saw her shoulders heaving and thought she was crying so he sat down beside her to lend a comforting hand only to find that she couldn't catch her breath she was laughing so hard.

"I must have looked a sight!" she grinned while rubbing the kitten dry in the sweatshirt she had donned when she came home. Gil sat behind her rubbing her back and she leaned against him.

"You looked like a crazy lady from The Witches of Eastwick!" he couldn't stop laughing at how adorable and goofy she looked. "I think you knocked off a life or two from Regan" he reached over and scratched the little kitten's head. "You need a hand?" he stood up, his knees bothering him from sitting like a frog on the floor but he never complained. Reaching out with his hand, he pulled her gently to her feet then took the little wet bundle from her hands while she retrieved a spare towel to rub her dry. "Did Mommy scare the little kitty?" he held the damp bundle up to his nose and was rewarded with a gentle swat to his nose then the kitten put both front paws on his head and started kneading his little feet. "You must like gray hair as much as your Mommy does." he kissed the kitten then snuggled her against his chest. She rumbled out her contentment at the warmth she was getting from him.

"I'll take her" Sara reached out with the towel and gathered the little on up then with a gentle hand, briskly rubbed her from head to toe. "I better have you do Bruno, he probably thinks I've gone crazy now.." she giggled and handed Gil a stack of towels she'd brought with for the dog. Figuring it was better if he dried the dog away from Sara and the kitten, he went into the laundry room, closed the door and let the wet dog out of his confinement. Bruno was about to jump up when he stopped to check behind Gil lest that insane woman reappear. When the coast was obviously clear, he sat like an obedient dog and let Gil dry him from head to toe. Figuring he would get no more water out of his coat, Gil tossed the towels into the washer, added the laundry soap, bleach and softener then waited for Sara to add her rag to the collection.

"You better behave yourself young man!" he lectured in a slightly stern voice. "You knocked your Mommy on her ass and could have hurt her and the babies., you can't do that Bruno, you have to be gentle with Mommy!" the dog yawned as if the discussion going on bored him to tears. "Are you listening to me Mister?" but he knew the Boxer's attention span was that of an gnat and opened the door to finally free him. Bruno immediately ran up to Sara and just about demanded she release the kitten with a huge woof. Sara giggled then put the squirming kitten on the floor where Bruno picked him up and carried him to their shared bed. Then he set about grooming his kitten the way he thought he should be groomed and the kitten sat there loving every moment.

"Well, we better feed the two of them" she handed Gil her towel and while he went to deposit it with his load of towels, she went about preparing the dog's dinner which consisted of a measures scoop and a half of kibble and a can of dog food. Gil used to indulge him with table scraps and things that later caused the dog gastric upset and his owners to spend time either outside or with windows open for the rest of the evening but since Sara had taken over his feed. she'd spoken to the veterinarian regarding nutrition, picked the appropriate dog food and Bruno was no longer overweight of suffering bouts of gas. The kitten got her usual half small can of food and 1/4 cup of Kitten Chow and both settled down side by side eating their meal.

Gil decided to order Chinese as both of them loved the vegetarian dishes the local restaurant served. "Dinner will be here in about 45 minutes if you want to set the table." he called from upstairs where he had decided while ordering in that a shower might not be a bad idea. Then it would give him and Sara time to relax before Sara kept her appointment with Ms. Winfred. She knew if she went in after them, Peng Lee their usually delivery person would be standing on their front porch again, ringing the bell like it was going out of style. It had happened to often and Peng had innocently smiled after noticing that both times, one of their hair was soaking wet.

"Maybe you oda after you take showa that way food very hot...not have to reheat so often!" he grinned knowingly and Sara couldn't stop the rose blush that covered her cheeks. They'd learned the hard way that although the lab had been oblivious to what was going on between them until Sara had been kidnapped, others weren't so blind.

She was sitting on the sofa reading a Forensic Journal when he came down to join her. "Anything good on TV tonight?" he picked up the remote and from experience handed it over to her so she could channel surf. It was one of the little idiosyncrasies about her that drove him mad, that along with how she constantly flipped from station to station whenever she was driving.

"Chick flick" she flipped the station, "Basketball game...look the Chicago Bulls are finally beating the Lakers..." she teased knowing what a huge fan he was of Chicago Sports Teams. Had the Chicago Cubs been playing, she would have never gotten the remote. "Ah, Discovery Channel...Dirty Jobs" she sat back and cuddled into his side, both enjoyed watching Mike Rowe take on what others thought were the dirtiest of jobs. Each week, he went from place to place working along side the person who wrote in claiming they had the dirtiest of job. "Could you see him with decomp?" she teased and kissed the side of Gil's face.

"Sara...don't start something the delivery man is going to have us regretting." he teased her about being the one that Peng had admonished about ruining his wife's dishes with a microwave.

"Oh don't working Honey" her voice betrayed something..."You're opening that door tonight!" she sat back and started to become engrossed in the show. 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang and Gil ran his fingers through his hair as if that would dry the rest of it before he faced the smallish man.

"Good evening Mista Gwissom, I bring you good food, you no heat it in microwave tonight!" he winked and then waved as he noticed Sara come up behind Gil. "I see you take showa before dina comes, good idea..you no have to heat again...enjoy!" he bowed, took his payment and generous tip that Gil had included then hurried away leaving Gil the one blushing this time. Sara pulled the bag from his hands as he closed the door and leaned heavily against the wooden panels. She laughed all the way into the kitchen.

After dinner, they were both sitting on the sofa, side by side when Gil decided to bring up the idea of Sara meeting with Amber that night. "I know we talked about this at lunch..." he began slowly "But I'm really not comfortable with you going tonight..." he had to get it out, Sara had demanded complete honesty upon her return and Gil had done everything to give her no reason to doubt her, except for the fight they had about the tape. "I could go with you..."

"We decided that Brass and Greg would be there, I think that's enough...Gil, the girl lost a close friend, I could tell from her voice that she's distraught over the loss., I doubt she would be the one we have to worry about." she looked into his blue eyes and smiled trying to alleviate his worry. When he simply stared at her she knew that he wasn't going to be easily swayed in this. "Look, we go in, ask our questions, then look through his stuff, I'm mainly interested in his answering machine, pager or anything else he kept...hopefully it will have something on Southwest International and we can at least link these together though gut instinct is telling me I already know that." she leaned over and kissed him softly. "You have to let me do this Gil, it's the first time I've had contact with suspects since..." he silenced her with a kiss but she knew he was thinking the same thing...'since Natalie'...

"I can't lie to you Sara, I don't like you becoming involved..." she silenced him this time.

"I became involved when they threatened our lives" her hands spanned her belly and she laughed feeling the babies kick against her palm. "Your soccor team awakens." she took his hand in under hers and pressed it against the movements she was feeling. The look in his face was priceless and took her breath away. "No one threatens me or mine!" she felt his hands rub in small circles and each movement was rewarded with a kick from one of the twins. "It doesn't hurt you does it?" Sara lost him this time. "I mean, the babies moving and kicking like this...does it hurt?"

"No...well, only when they play soccor with my kidneys..." she scrunched up her face. "But I think it will all be worth it in the end." she relaxed against him and they occupied their time with a movie until it was time for her to get dressed. Brass had called saying he would pick up Greg and then her on the way to Amber's house...

Half hour later, the doorbell rang and Greg stood nervously outside until Gil opened the door granting him access. "You take care of her tonight Greg, if anything upsets her or anything happens..." the threat hung there in the air. Greg knew he was being trusted with a great gift and had no intentions of letting either Grissom or Sara down. "Do not for one minute let her out of your sight." he held up his hands trying to remain calm. "If she's in the room interviewing Amber, you better be glued to her side or Brass better be in there, you search anywhere, you do it together...you're her shadow tonight!" The younger man simply swallowed then nodded.

When Sara came out slipping on a jacket in the cooler desert air, she kissed Grissom "Wish me luck!" she winked and was surprised when his hand shot out to grasp her arm. He kissed her like a desperate man. "Gil...I'm only going to talk to her...it will be okay., besides, I'm with Greg and Brass, no safer hands but your own..." she kissed him again and then turned before he could make it harder for her to go.


	81. Chapter 81

Sara slid in the front of Jim's Taurus as he waited patiently by the curb. Greg had complained that first in should have gotten to ride shotgun but Brass thought he could quickly quell that argument with one statement. The conversation continued right up until they pulled to the curb.

"When you can carry even a single baby and pass it naturally...without an epidural, I'll let you ride shotgun!" Greg just looked at him with mild humor.

"I keep forgetting Sara's pregnant." was his lame excuse and Jim immediately called him on it.

"What did you think she was carrying under her blouses, a head from Al's lab?" They both chuckled as they pulled up to Sara's house.

"I'm sure Bugman has something to say to one of us!" Greg got out figuring he'd take the brunt of whatever instructions Grissom had. It was obvious the way he stood staring at both men while his wife had waddled down the stairs. When he returned behind Sara he gave Brass a look that clearly told Jim that something more than the obligatory hello had been said.

The drive to Amber's house took a little more than 45 minutes due to the traffic that always managed to tie up the strip. Brass hated it and knew that during his early days on the department, he often felt sorry for the beat cops that pulled traffic and crowd control whenever something major occurred in Las Vegas. Now that the entire strip was filled with Casinos who drew in the crowds with street shows and themes, it had gotten worse for those who's job it was to maneuver around the throngs of site seers. When they arrived, Brass gently reached out and touched Sara's arm.

"We question her, we gather the stuff you need for the investigation and we leave...got it?" Sara turned to him, the look in her eyes told him she was well aware of the way he worked., 'get in...get it done, get out...we're not here to make friends!' It could sometimes be misconstrued as cold and brash but it was how he operated since he got on the department. He knew most people had an inane distrust of cops so he didn't go out of his way to make it appear he was overly friendly. 'Just be civil enough to get the answers, evidence and the job done...with no room for complaints' and his jacket that sat in the Personnel office verified that Jim always did things above board and could never be called less than honest.

Sara rang the bell and stood, hands folded over her belly. Greg as usual bounced around from foot to foot. Jim's warning glance had him tucking his hands deeply into his pocket and trying his hardest to stand still. The door was opened by a slight blond girl who had her long multicolored hair pulled up in a French braid.

"Hi!" She waved and smiled shyly "Amber...I'm Amber Winfred" she stuck out her hand and Sara gently shook it. "You must be Ms. Sidle?" Sara nodded

"This is Captain Jim Brass and my coworker Greg Sanders" she motioned to the two men beside her.

"Please won't you come inside?" she hurried them in, gave a nervous glance around the block and then quickly closed and locked the front door. The strange part was when she set the alarm on the inside wall. Jim and Sara exchanged curious looks with Greg but none of them said anything at the moment. "Can I get you something to drink?" she motioned them into a slightly cluttered living room, the walls were a muted mustard color, the furniture a mish mash of eclectic designs. On the coffee table sat five boxes and she indicated to Sara that they should move toward them. "Those are the things I got from Arron's apartment when the landlord called..." she moved to the sofa and waited for the three others to join her.

"Amber, first of all let me say how sorry I am for your loss, I know you said you and Arron were close." they all sat down with Sara next to Amber. "I know this might be a difficult time but we're trying to find out who did this to him..." Sara almost said 'and the others' but she didn't want to tip her hand. "Anything you can tell us might prove to be useful so no matter how small something is...please, although it might seem insignificant to you, it might be just the thing we need to break the case." Amber nodded and smiled but Sara could make out the inner struggle the young woman was having in containing her tears.

"I'll help you any way I can...Arron was a gentle soul, my best friend, probably my only friend in Vegas and the person or people that did this...well..." she started to sob and Sara offered a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Did Arron ever mention the names of any of the companies that were vying for his work?" Amber thought hard...

"Well...there were so many" she paused..."I know many of them left him messages.." she stood up and opened one of the cartons "his answering machine is in here somewhere and I found his Palm Pilot and beeper...his mailboxes were full." She managed to find the three items she'd been searching for and pulled them from the nearest box. Greg, with gloves on his hands and kit at the ready fingerprinted each item. "Why are you doing that?" she seemed genuinely puzzled.

"Amber, it's a precaution just in case anyone touched any of his items.." Sara patiently explained.

"Oh...well, I... touched,...I handled those...items, obviously..." she paused looking down at her own hands. Greg looked up and smiled.

"Well, if you let me fingerprint you, we can easily rule out your prints then.." Amber seemed to accept this and Greg took his time to ink her fingers and then take the prints, thanking her profusely for making his job easier. "That way, if they find any fingerprints in his apartment or anything that belongs to you...they won't have to bother you." she thanked him with a shy nod of her head.

"Do you know if Arron ever worked on flight and landing simulations?" Brass interjected, his notepad at the ready.

"Yes...he got his pilots license five years ago, he got his Commercial license about 2 years ago and worked for one of the airlines as a pilot but he had some issues with ..." she couldn't seem to recall his exact wording..."He came home one weekend after a flight to Dallas, he was absolutely livid. He said that he wasn't flying with them anymore because the tower there kept complaining that he was on radar one moment, off the next...he was really upset because the tower supervisor asked if he was playing with their tracking system and he asked if they were a bunch of idiots knowing that a pilot isn't supposed to override something like that, it would make no sense to endanger an entire flight because of some stupid game or something. He told them that...and that they needed to get their system checked for bugs!" He had a big powwow with several of the big wigs at the airlines headquarters which amounted to them acting like it was his imagination. He came home and drafted a letter of resignation to them that afternoon."

Brass was hurridly jotting notes in a shorthand only he could understand while Sara tried to follow the story she was telling and Greg worked on gathering evidence.

"That might still be on his laptop but the odd thing was and I'm only saying it's odd because Arron treated his laptop like his American Express card...he never and I mean NEVER left home without it...he came to parties, the laptop was in his bag, if he was out with me to local bars...the laptop was there, I teased him about his attachment to it...we referred to it as his surrogate child." she smiled at the memory. "But when I went to the apartment to claim his stuff...I couldn't find it. I even went through his car but still nothing. I had the second key to his safe deposit box but things got busy at work, and having to collect his things, I never got to the bank." she quickly stood up and darted from the room only to return moments later with said key in hand..."it's the only place I hadn't gotten around to looking in." she handed the key to Brass.

"You said you had the second, was the first found in Arron's belongings?" Brass pocketed the key she handed him. Amber looked confused and shook her head.

A/N: At some point and time I actually will sit down and personally thank each and every person that continues to review...you rock each and every one of you and I cannot thank you enough for taking this journey with me...hope you are getting ready for more unraveling of our tale...

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: oh go write it yourself...since you can't seem to find a writer to cross a picket line! hehehehe...

"Ya know, I packed up all of his things and I honestly don't remember...but everything that was in the apartment, other than furniture and clothes which I've put into storage is right here, I can help you go through it if you want?" she stood up but Greg beat her to the box.

"I'll start going through it, if you recognize anything or there's something missing or even something out of place, just let me know okay?" he started unpacking the first of the five cartons. Everything in there she could remember seeing in his apartment. Much was the case with the second and third box. "Still no key!" Greg had efficiently placed everything back in each box after carefully taking pictures and tagging the items. Afterwards, he taped the box closed with his own tape, initialed the list affixed on the top and then moved it to the side to take with them.

The fourth box produced a jewelery box that contained the key they were looking for along with a man's ring with the inside engraved with '_A Night To Remember-J.C'. _Brass and Sara looked at each other with a dumbfounded expression. Both were thinking '_Those could be Jeffrey Clayton's initials' _but neither spilled what they were thinking.

"Amber" Brass began as he held up the ring on a pen. "Any idea who J.C. might have been?" She carefully pondered the thought but came up with a blank.

"Arron was always getting little trinkets and baubles from his 'friends' if you know what I mean?" she used her fingers in quotation marks. "I knew a lot of his friends or I should say aquaintances since he never seemed particularly close with anyone for any length of time but I can't say I knew all of them.  
she apologized for her lack of information. "He never showed me that one though..looks expensive." Brass agreed, there were five diamonds inlaid in a channel setting, and even someone with limited knowledge would know, those were not fakes.

"Someone must have really liked him to give him such a nice ring." Greg was inspecting the the band which they had placed into an evidence bag. "I'd say they really, really liked him!" he looked from Sara to Brass. They continued searching through all of Arron's belongings but not much else turned up with the exception of a scarf, from the looks of it a woman's and something about the scent was very familiar to Sara and Brass but neither or them could remember where they'd noticed the intoxicating aroma before.

"It's not common, that I can tell you right off the bat!" Sara picked up the scarf, placed it with a tag inside another bag and held it under her nose. "But dammit Brass I know I've smelled this recently..." she racked her brain trying to remember where.

"Amber, do you recall if any of the companies that called on him might have been Southwest?" Brass decided to push a little further and perhaps jog her memory... Amber suddenly looked up as if the brightest light bulb had gone off over her head.

"Southwest...as in Southwest International...yeah, now that you mentioned it...they were the first place that called him after he resigned from Union Aviations...what was strange was that they knew exactly why he had quit working there...down to the blips on the radar...the conversation he had with the tower...I remember, we were at dinner at The Bellagio when two people, a man and woman, approached our table, it was almost like Arron was expecting them, well one of them anyway., her name was something like...Kar...no, Cath...no that's not right...something strange like Cat...Cat...something..."

"Catalina?" Sara turned to stare at her opened mouth.

"Yeah...that was it...Catalina, the reason I remember is because right after she introduced herself...the waiter came, seemed to know the couple. He offered us salad and one of the dressings was Catalina and I thought it was really funny, in fact so did everyone at the table...at the time." she shifted on the sofa getting more comfortable. "I don't remember if the man ever mentioned his name but he couldn't seem to stop staring at Arron which made me really uncomfortable you know? I mean, not that ... well Arron was certainly very attractive and definitely had his share of men falling all over him but this man...he bought an expensive bottle of champagne like he was trying to impress Arron, made suggestions regarding the menu but the woman, she simply smiled, didn't engage in much conversation, she seemed to have been the one that introduced Arron and that man...he gave me the creeps if you ask me." she shook her head as if shaking off a bug.

"So what did they want?" Brass figured he would keep the conversation on track.

"The man said he was sorry that Union had lost such a vital employee and wondered if Arron had plans for his future...he suggested that perhaps he was wasting his talents flying people from state to state and would better serve them with his ability to write programs that would enhance landing and take-offs. That he had been given a copy of some of Arron's programs...that pissed Arron off because he hadn't given them to many people and the man refused to tell him where he'd gotten hold of his work." she cringed at the memory of almost being tossed out of such a swank restaurant.

"Did he threaten Arron?" Sara was working overtime trying to fit these puzzle pieces together.

"No, he opened a corporate check book and told Arron "Name your price, we're willing to pay whatever you think your work is worth..." Arron didn't even know what to say to that...he closed up the check book and told Arron that they would be waiting on his terms and handed him a business card., he and Catalina got up and left...it was almost like I wasn't even at the table... Arron put the card in his wallet and never mentioned it again..." She looked at Brass who motioned for Greg to see if perhaps they could find Arron's wallet among is belongings. The item in question was found in an envelope from Dessert Palms listed with his name, date of birth and death, it was cut open and resealed then evidence marked by the LVPD.

"Well this should be fun." Greg was thinking about all the fingerprints he might find on the wallet, the victim's, his friend, the hospital employees that packed his personal effects, the police...it was a daunting job but Greg was up to it. He packed the wallet in yet another evidence bag after having gone through it with gloved hands. The card was tucked in a part of the wallet that must have been missed by someone digging through it. The card was in pristine condition, almost like it had never been removed after being put inside its hiding place. Greg looked at Brass who thought the same thing, all the rest of the items in the wallet had been removed. After the police had gone through everything., they had been rubber banded together and placed just inside the fold of the wallet yet the card with the distinctive Southwest International logo remained inside the wallet as if overlooked. Brass knew he would have some questions to ask when he returned to the station and checked the log to see who had worked the case.

They finished gathering what they needed and realized that it would be too late to go to the bank to see what was in the safe deposit box till morning. Thanking Amber for her help, Sara shook hands with the woman, gave her a card with her personal cellphone number on it and gathered up the bags of evidence Greg had tagged.

"If you think of anything else, please...no matter how big or small...contact me." she smiled warmly at the younger woman and after Brass and Greg bid her goodbye, they returned to Jim's Taurus and headed back to the lab.

"I'll process this when I get back after I log it in." Greg offered. Brass smiled at his attentiveness that Sara was sitting in the front seat trying hard to stifle a yawn.

"I'm going to check some logs and find out who handled this case after the hospital handed it off...I'd like to know how that card was missed in the wallet." he turned to Sara "And I'm returning you to your home.." she started to open her mouth. "Before your husband and my best friend kicks my ass for keeping his pregnant wife away from home on one of her two nights off..." he tapped her arm and smiled.

"We could use a little nap.." she rubbed her belly glad that the babies seemed to be settled for the time being., it was a blessing with how active they'd become as of late.

They drove on toward their home unaware that they were once again being discretely followed by the black SUV that had been parked down the road from Amber's home the entire time they were there.


	82. Chapter 82

Sara walked into the townhouse after bidding farewell to Brass and Greg. The family room was quiet and Bruno slowly stretched and yawned from his spot near the fireplace then came over to greet her, his tail which had never been docked as a puppy wagged enthusiastically as she bent to pet him. "Hello boy, did you wait up for Mommy?" his butt wriggled with each sway of his tail. "Come on, Mommy will let you outside for the last time...then we can go upstairs and find Daddy" she figured he would either be working in his office or asleep but the minute she crawled into bed, he would as was his habit now wake to ask if everything went okay.

Bruno finished up, making the rounds of the yard, checking his wood pile and then came back to the door where Sara and Regan waited patiently for him.

As he turned to make his way up the desk stairs, his hair bristled, tail went straight and he suddenly went on high alert. Sara flipped on the security lights and tried to see what had him on edge. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw movement and reached for the weapon she now carried with her and hadn't had time to put away before letting the dog out. She stepped out onto the deck and noticed that Gil was now downstairs behind her.

"What's he barking at?" he whispered upon seeing the gun in Sara's hand. She put her finger to her lip and motioned with her hand where she had seen something moving just outside. He gently tried to pull her back inside but she wasn't coming without Bruno. Gil put his fingers to his lips and gave one sharp whistle which Bruno knew meant he should come but something was threatening his family outside that fence and he wanted at it...or them and he threw his 75 lbs against the wooden privacy fence putting everything he had behind his bark. Gil pulled on Sara's arm and she came inside, he took her gun from her hand and told her to call 911 then shut the outside lights off and went down into the yard. Sara was on the phone immediately to the police and then Brass.

Jim told her to stay put but when she mentioned that Gil was outside the house with her service gun, he was awake and slipping into a pair of slacks as he balanced the phone on his shoulder. "Listen Cookie, no matter what happens, I do not want you outside that house, set the alarm, the cops are on their way..!" he hoped she would listen but with Gil being outside, he doubted it. "I mean it...Gil can take care of himself Sara but if he has to look out for you...well just stay put their ETA should be two minutes...they're coming in without sirens...!" he slipped on his jacket, grabbed his own gun and was out the door knowing he was only 7 minutes from their house. "I'm on my way...stay on the phone!" he figured if he kept her talking to him, he could keep her from going outside to back up her husband.

Gil stalked along the fence line keeping in the shadows as he walked up silently where Bruno was lunging at the fence. Seeing his master he doubled his efforts and Gil knew he wouldn't be able to call the dog off without tipping anyone off that he was behind the fence. He could hear lowered voices and tried to make out what was being said.

"She came home with the copper" he heard the first person whisper.

"Her old man should have been working tonight...I told you watch the house and let me know if you saw him go out..." the second who must have been in charge sounded pissed that his request wasn't carried out. "That fucking dog is going to give us away, I already saw the lights go on and off...let's get the hell out of here.." he heard footsteps and then running. Gil knew that chasing them would have been absolutely impossible task given that he couldn't get to the gate fast enough and knowing now that someone had been watching his house, he was not about to leave Sara alone. He grabbed Bruno by the collar, gave him the 'quiet' command and hurried back to the house just as Sara was opening the door to Jim Brass.

"Hey Gil. Sara...got some excitement I guess?" his gun was drawn and Gil could make out several squads driving around the perimeter of the property.

"There were two of them, I overheard them talking" he was hesitant to tell Brass what he'd heard but knew if he kept one more thing from Sara, she'd probably beat him to death herself. "One of them knew that you dropped Sara off tonight..." he saw her cover her mouth with her hand."The other, I'm guessing he's higher on the food chain said I was supposed to be working tonight and shouldn't have been home." It simply confirmed what the three of them suspected, someone from inside the lab was either responsible or keeping tabs on them and he didn't like it one bit. "I'm pretty sure that they're going back to tell them the cops were here..." Gil remembered the warning on the tape. He picked up his cell phone and dialed the lab getting Catherine.

"Listen, we've had some ... We had visitors tonight...!"

"God Gil are you and Sara okay?" She nearly dropped the phone which had been precariously balanced on her shoulder as she filled out the paperwork that normally filled both her and Gil's desks. "Did you call Jim?"

"He's here with us, with four squads, they're canvassing the neighborhood but the two of them..."

"Two of them? You saw them? Would you be able...to...ID them?" She was talking a mile a minute after having dropped the work she had sitting on her lap..."Gil thank God you were home tonight...I don't even want to think..." Gil cut her off not wanting to go that route right now.

"I didn't get a look at them, only think I heard was that they'd tailed Sara and were watching my home...listen, it confirms what I said, this is coming from inside. I didn't want to do this but I may have to involve Ecklie..." he wasn't sure he was altogether comfortable with that but he was going to be going through personnel records and in order to do that, he would need Conrad's authority.

"What do you want me to do?" she sat upright, pen in hand, tablet ready to take notes.

"I need to go through records, which is where Conrad comes in" he paused. "I don't know exactly what I'm looking for but I can't be sure if this is a new hire, old someone with a vendetta or what...but they were sure I was off tonight, I'm glad I changed the schedule...but it now makes me wonder which of us is the real target..." he was exasperated by the entire ordeal.

"Listen Gil, I'll update Ecklie on this, probably gonna hear about how we should have included him from the start but I'll handle Conrad, you take care of that wife of yours...and yourself...I'll get Nick and Warrick on the files, it's been...thank God a very slow night and they'll be only to happy to help...I'll keep you apprised of anything we find." she clicked off, shut the folder she'd gathered from where it had fallen on the floor, shut off her desk lamp and went to find Ecklie.

Conrad was sitting behind his desk talking to his wife on the phone when he noticed Catherine leaning against the door frame.

"Catherine, can I help you..?" he told his wife he would call her back and gently cradled the phone. Catherine came in and took a seat directly across from him.

"We have a situation Conrad" she leaned forward, thought about something. Then she stood up and walked to his door then closed and locked it. Ecklie watched her every move and wondered what she was about to say. "You know the case that Gil and I were working on?"

"Southwest right?" he sat back crossing his hands on his lap.

"You also know that with Sara working the Cold Case Files, she's been hands off on the case...but the other day, she and Gil received a phone message on their personal answering machine at home" she stressed, it basically threatened that if Gil didn't drop this case, look the other way...they would harm Sara...and the babies.."

"And I'm just hearing about this why?" he leaned forward.

"Gil was worried when whoever it was, voice was disguised and Archie's working on the tape as we speak...Conrad, they stated that they would harm Sara...and I quote, your children, your son and your daughter!" she let him absorb that for a moment.

"You're thinking inside the lab aren't you?" He sat back. "Any ideas?" Catherine shook her head...

"Gil was wondering if you'd allow him...us... access to personnel files...might be nothing, might be something but after the entire Natalie incident...we're not taking chances. Conrad agreed and told her that if she needed any assistance beside her team, he would gladly. Cath wasn't about to bring anyone else in, she knew who she could and could not trust and anyone outside of their original team was not going to be included. Thanking him she left his office, clicked her cell phone open and text Warrick, Greg and Nick telling them they would be working on cold cases tonight. Her next call was to Gil whom she told that Ecklie was behind them, offered assistance if need be and cut him off before he could protest.

"I know Gil, the fewer hands on this…outside of our team, the better…how is Sara?" she made her way to her own office and closed the door.

" Worried about me, I'm worried about her...we'll be in shortly to start going through those files, just get them together and Cath…don't let them out of your sight, make sure any evidence we have pertaining to any of the cases is photographed and locked in the secondary evidence vault." She wrote notes so she would be able to cross off each thing as she did them and report to him when he came in.

"You're bringing Sara in?" Gil confirmed this saying he wasn't comfortable leaving her alone even when Brass agreed to put someone inside and outside the house.

"Right now Cath, my trust meter is off the charts, I'm not comfortable with someone else keeping tabs on her, besides she'll be thankful for the distraction." He was in the process of changing as was Sara, Brass was waiting downstairs and had placed several calls to people he knew he could trust with his life. They'd agreed to keep watch over Gil and Sara including the house so he wouldn't have to depend on the department for personal favors, especially since they didn't know who or what they were dealing with.


	83. Chapter 83

**A/N:** First off, apologies that my A/N wound up in the middle of one of my chapters, not meant to confuse ya...or make you say "Where is it?" but the computer I use at work (yea I cheat and do chapters at work as they come to me...LOL) is haunted and does whatever it wants...including making me write more and more...which could be a good thing...but it does manage to move paragraphs where they don't belong...so pardon mistakes...no beta here...some day I will... Secondly, thanks for the wonderful reviews you all rock...

Gil and Sara showered and changed figuring they'd probably get little or no sleep anyway. Used to pulling doubles and sometimes triples, it wasn't uncommon for them to be working round the clock but more than that, each was feeding off their own adrenaline from the earlier excitement. Gil was beyond calm as they left the house setting the alarm. Both had holstered weapons on them and Gil checked the area carefully as he exited their garage and reset the alarm via remote.

The minute they pulled out onto their street Sara noticed a squad come up behind them. "I'm guessing that Brass isn't taking this as a joke." she knew that Gil saw the car behind them as well.

"None of us are taking any chances, he's doubled coverage for us on crime scenes and I heard tell that anyone caught off guard will face immediate termination...Ecklie and the Mayor agreed to this as well!" he reached over and linked hands with her on the console that separated them. "He also agreed with me that you're not safe" he felt her squeeze his hand "nor am I Honey..." he felt he had better add that..."So we're going to be working the same hours, if you're off, I'm off, if you're on...I'll be on as well." he wanted her to understand, they would be glued at the hip if that's what it took.

"What about when you're in the field? I can't obviously continue with field work much longer" she touched her ample belly but Gil knew she was also questioning what would happen during her maternity leave. "What then? I'm not safe at home., we're not safe in the lab, out in the field..." her tears stung her eyes as they threatened to burst forth. "What the hell did we do to deserve the misery we've dealt with in our lives?" Gil knew that much of her emotions were hormonal but he also understood her worry.

"Sweetheart, I put in for family leave when you go on Maternity Leave" it was the first time he had mentioned it and she sat there dumbstruck. "I've been working here for years, I have more than enough time on the books, in fact, it was Ecklie that asked me if I would consider it...I'd only have to come in as a consultant on anything with bugs..." he shrugged "the hardship of being a world renown Entomologist" he smiled proudly.

"What about your position?" she knew how much a part of him his job was to him...but something like this made her realize just how much he had changed in the years they'd been together.

"I'd still be the Grave Supervisor, I told Ecklie that Catherine can drop off all paperwork to us at home, we can both work on it...we'd consult on active cases if the team needed help that way we both remain active on the payroll." he smiled warmly squeezing her hand. "In exchange, Catherine would do the field work and lab reports that need her authorization and who knows., if I one day decide to retire, she'll have an easier transition if she decides to take my position." he sat back and gaged her reaction.

"Are you thinking of retiring Gil?" she knew that he'd mentioned it a few times in passing but part of her couldn't imagine the lab without him. Then again, when she had left, she wouldn't have been able to admit that there was a time she considered never coming back to the lab...but it was who and what she was and she felt the same for him.

"The job no longer defines who or what I am..." he let her hand go for a moment and she felt the loss of contact in her heart until he placed his hand on her tummy. "This is who I want to be...Daddy..." he lifted her hand and brought her wedding rings to his lips "this is what I am...your husband, friend and lover..." he kissed her hand and held it to his mouth.

She realized then and there that she loved this man more than anything in the world...him and his children were her life, her world...no demons from the past could come and destroy that...she simply wouldn't allow it. She was thankful that she'd returned to him, that he had survived the ordeal that was responsible for them being even closer than they were when she'd left. This man who she'd spent countless days, week, months and years chasing after, who she'd literally wanted to rip her own hair out over...was the one person that knew her inside out and accepted her just the way she was. He was her husband, her lover and friend...he was so much more than that...he was her entire world now and she accepted the responsibility that came with it. "God Gilbert I love you...more and more every day I just find more to love and I know how very lucky I am to have you in my life." she squeezed his hand in hers and sat back to relax as they drove into the lab.

"Sara I just pray that we find out who is behind all of this." he wished he could relax for even a moment but from the very minute he'd played that tape and heard his wife and children threatened, he hadn't gotten any real sleep and she worried about the circles she saw under his eyes.

"Gil have you been having trouble sleeping?" she saw the hand holding the steering wheel clench.

"Not when you're beside me." she knew he wouldn't tell her that his worries were keeping him awake. "I'll catch up when this is over" he picked her hand up and kissed it again but the touch didn't reassure her, instead it made her feel like she had when she watched the Miniature Killer's work consume his every moment. They'd argued because of his almost obsessive behavior in trying to single handedly solve the case that stunned them all. She would go to bed curled up next to him and wake up to find him in his study reading and re-reading every note that the team had taken, perusing the pictures over and over until his migraines returned full force and caused him to take a break.

"I just don't want this to cause a repeat of the past.." she saw him glance nervously toward her then shift his tense gaze back to the road. "Al could give you something to help..." he shook his head.

"I am NOT taking prescription medication to sleep Sara., I need to be alert with everything..." she pulled his hand a little closer.

"How alert will you be when you fall asleep behind the wheel on the way to a crime scene because you haven't slept? I've noticed Gil, I wake up and you're not there. We make love and sometimes, you're not really there...please Honey, don't get me wrong, I'm certainly NOT complaining Sweetheart but I've seen this before and I refuse to live like that again., it's not good for either of us...I worry about you as much as you about me.." she wanted him to know, she wasn't threatening to leave, she was telling him how she honestly felt. Gil took no offense, he wanted honesty and he accepted his shortcomings as much as she did...

"I promise Honey, I'll try to get some sleep but I'm not comfortable being drugged...you understand that right?" she smiled knowing that a sedated Grissom was a loopy Grissom.

"I think you're cute when you're sedated.." she teased remembering a time when he had to have his wisdom teeth removed. Gil opted to do all four on the same day provided that the oral surgeon agreed to put him under. Coming out of the anesthetic, he had been going on and on about why his mom shouldn't be mad having found his stash of decomposing animals in the basement...and that it was perfectly natural for a dead raccoon to be hanging from the clothesline in his first attempts at following the blowfly time line." Sara and the surgeon had sat there laughing as she tried to explain that no, Gil wasn't some premurderous man but was working on his thesis of insects and decomposition at an early age.

"Come on Mom, can't you just hang your laundry tomorrow, it's been here for days...you didn't say anything then!" his hands had worked along with his words as he signed to a mother that couldn't hear him. Gil had explained to her that even though she'd lost her hearing, she wanted her son to be able to survive in a hearing world should the inherited disease someday effect him. It had proved useful when one of their cases involved the death of a boy who had been killed because this attackers felt he was different, he was simply deaf and hadn't heard the taunts and jeers that came from the car that followed and harassed him, it had been one of the reasons they'd singled him out.

"You and Dr. Albrecht had fun that day didn't you?" He chuckled that he knew exactly what she was thinking about..."I'll never be able to go back there, I feel sooooo violated!" he fained the ultimate betrayal...Sara sat beside him in wonderment that this man knew her so well...it was creepy at times for she'd never had anyone lover her so much that they took such an interest in getting to know her.

They chatted like that on and off during the entire ride to the office. When they finally parked, the squad that had been following them slowed to watch them enter the building and then waved goodbye and took off for their own patrol. Gil held Sara's hand tightly as they walked through the halls of the lab and into his office.

Seated in the middle of his glass topped desk was a solitary plain brown envelope with Grissom(S) typed on the face. Gil looked at Sara and reached into his desk for a pair of latex gloves. Carefully he lifted the package, carried into the layout room while Sara grabbed fingerprint powder and a brush along with tape lifts then followed him down the hall.

"I hate this!" he griped under his breath. "We have to be suspicious of everything." He gingerly set the envelope down on the table. Using just the tip of a scalpel, he held it down while Sara printed the front then the back of then envelope, then Gil gently dissected the paper, cautiously removing the flap that might contain any DNA and moving it off to the side before he crouched down and slowly separated the two sides. There was a single piece of black paper with gold metallic writing. "You were warned! Apparently you require proof that dropping the investigation would have been the right thing to do! Can you live with your decision?" Gil stood up and worried blue eyes turned to take in Sara's reaction. Immediately he walked out of the room and directly toward the front desk where Judy was working. "Judy...who was in my office this morning?" his tone told her that something was up.

"Dr. Grissom, I just came on myself...I'm really not sure, is there a problem?" she looked toward the door of his office and then for the girl who had been at the counter when she arrived. "There was a new girl here, she said she was on loan from a temp agency...funny, we don't normally use a temp agency here do we?" She seemed worried and genuinely puzzled.

"So you don't know who she was?" He stood looking around..."Judy I want you and everyone else behind the desk to not touch another thing...think about anything you saw her handling..." he motioned to the man standing beside her "Find out if anyone else was working with her for any length of time, what she touched, who she took calls from and where she went!" he stalked toward the AV lab and saw Archie seated behind one of the various monitors. "Archie, I want the tapes from the front desk ASAP!" he shouted out orders.

"From when to when Griss?" the young man already walked over to the spool to set the to and from times and dates.

"Today...Last night...find out when Judy went off duty, who was supposed to be working and who actually was...get Ecklie to review time cards and find out who was working the desk immediately before Judy came on...I want them here, I don't care if they're having breakfast with their Mothers, I want them her ASAP...understood?" Archie nodded and headed off to do his job while the spool copied tapes at high speed to the monitor that Archie had vacated.

"I should have the tapes in 20 minutes...or less" he shot back when he saw the discontented look on Gil's face. "I'll get right on the stuff with Ecklie while it copies..." he ran down the hallway in the direction of the Director's office.

Sara came out of the layout having printed the letter and bagging it for evidence. "Gil what the hell is going on?" she saw people scrambling around the front desk but no one working behind it.

"Sara print my door!" he pointed to the office, "My door, the desk...see what you get then when you're done, print the phones and everything you can at the front desk." Sara leaned over the counter and gave her husband a look that clearly stated what a daunting task was ahead of her. "I'll get Greg and Warrick to lend a hand...but Judy said she just came on, there was a woman here that she didn't recognize who claimed to be from some temp agency."

"We don't use a temp agency Grissom!" she knew exactly what he was thinking...They were definitely facing someone from the inside!


	84. Chapter 84

A/N: It's short but we're getting there...I'm working very hard to tie everything together and get the action going...enjoy..thanks for all the wonderful reviews...and for those that read this and think they have answers...yeah right., remember, follow the evidence and don't believe everything is as it seems...hehehehehe (laughing evilly, it's my birthday so I'm entitled to be evil, more coming...

Disclaimer: Happy birthday to me, I kidnapped the team, I'm having my way with Billy...it's really a scream...I'll get them back to you when you sign a contract with the writers...

Brass was livid and there was no mistaking it, he bulldogged his way past Ecklie's secretary, and with a grunt, slammed the glass door to his office open and stomped inside.

"There was an envelope delivered to Gil..." he caught his breath. "It was left on his fucking desk this morning!" he leaned against the back of one of the leather chairs that sat before his desk. "There was an unknown, supposed temporary employee at the front desk for God knows how long!" his breathing was not slowing down. "No one knew her, no one knows where she came from, where she went and God dammit Ecklie, no one even questioned it." He finally had to sit down, this job was going to be the death of him.

To say that Ecklie looked stunned was an understatement. "Did you have Archie check the tapes?" Brass nodded while Conrad got up and offered him a glass of water.

"Thanks.." he sipped the cold liquid grateful that his breathing and blood pressure seemed to be stabilizing. "Conrad this is simply not acceptable, those two are in immanent danger...they're not safe at home, we got called out there earlier, apparently Gil overheard two of them discussing his work schedule and the fact that Sara was supposed to have been home alone, God knows if he hadn't decided to take off if they would have made their move. They hightailed it out of there and patrol couldn't find them!" Brass still hadn't settled down from that.

Sophia walked in the door unannounced. "Archie got a lead on the person at the front desk...he's got the video cued, thank God it was angled, the camera that is to cover Gil's door, it clearly shows her entering and exiting his office. Mail wouldn't have been sitting around at that time so there should have been no reason for it. Nick's running her face in CODIS and Catherine's working on the prints she pulled from the envelope, door handle and such, it doesn't appear she was wearing any gloves so maybe we'll get lucky." as quickly as she came, she went back down the hallway to assist anywhere she could.

"Greg, DNA off the envelope, ask Hodges where we are on that and if he gives you some lame ass excuse tell him I said to shelf anything else he's working on, I don't care what it is, this takes precedence over anything else!" Greg nodded at Catherine's words and slipped into Trace.

Greg found David Hodges working diligently toward getting stat results on this test. "I'm working on it Greggo" he sneered sarcastically "I can't pull results out of my hat ya know..." he was going to add something else when Warrick walked in.

"I don't care of you pull them out of your ass, quit with the smart ass comments, get the fucking results, lives depend on this Hodges!" he had poked his head in and overheard the jealous bastard giving Greg a hard time. Hodges swallowed not used to facing Warrick's temper.

"I'm on it!" he ducked his head back over the microscope and Mandy came in to see if anyone else needed a hand. Apparently, Ecklie had put in a call and it was all hands on deck with this one.

The Mayor was called along with the Under Sheriff and they quickly gathered in Conrad's office. He filled them in on where they were at. The Mayor seemed genuinely concerned but something about the Under Sheriff's behavior made Conrad hold back information. If you had asked him, he couldn't quite put his finger on it but there was something unsettling about the way the man wanted to brush this off as a simple case of harassment or a practical joke.

"Look, we all make enemies, we can't bring in the FBI every time one of the ... employees gets a death threat!" he leaned against the wall, arms crossed and looking more bored than interested in the goings on. "How do we even know that this has any merit?" he looked at his cuticles and the Mayor turned toward him.

"Are we boring you?" His head shot up and his jaw worked.

"Come on...how many people get threats every day...and.."

"And how many aren't taken seriously enough? Two of my best employees have been threatened, not to mention a pregnant woman and the lives of her children!" he was venting his full wrath now. "It's your job to ensure the safety of the people that work here if you can't do that, if it's too much of a professional courtesy for you, perhaps you should consider updating your resume, I'll keep a spot on my desk for it...!" he turned back to Conrad. "Find out if Gil and Sara want the FBI involved, if they do, make the call!" Conrad nodded. The Under Sheriff slipped out of the office, dignity sliced and diced...without another word to either the Mayor or Ecklie.

"Look, someone threatened Sara and they were able to make a direct threat on her 'unborn son and daughter' and as far as I know, those details were only shared with a few people in the lab." he waited to see if the Mayor would catch on.

"You're thinking inside aren't you?" He shifted uncomfortably. "Don't tell me we're dealing with another Natalie Dell?" he knew what a fiasco that had been, the news reports that the lab had been withholding information in regards to the Miniature Killer when it appeared they had struck again, only to find out the brother had decided to do a copy cat killing and Gil had been forced to answer to why he'd waited so long to release details. He'd made sense not wanting to tip their hand but at the same time, it made Ernie Dell come forward and confess only to find out later that it was really a Father's misplaced love that caused him to take the blame for something he knew his adopted daughter was doing. That had been the beginning of the terror that reigned down on the love of Grissom's life... "You do whatever you have to in order to keep Sara and Gil safe, if it means relocating them...do it., go through personnel files Conrad, I don't care what you have to do, use the resources of the lab and I'll approve any overtime for whatever you need!" he nodded and left Conrad sitting behind his desk wondering if he should inform Gil of his suspicions.

He thought long and hard and decided to do some digging of his own. He hadn't always been a fond lover of Gil and Sara but they were in fact the strongest team he had, they were, if truth be told, in their own right, responsible for the number 2 standing his lab found itself in year after year, only coming in behind the FBI lab and he had seen how cohesive the team was even after he'd decided to seek revenge and break them up. They'd still managed to help each other with cases, had worked overtime when required and remained fast friends. When Nick had been kidnapped, they'd banded together and against all odds, saved his life with only moments to spare. It was during that time, the only time he'd ever heard Gil Grissom close to begging when he heard the fateful request. "I want my guys back!" Seeing how everything had turned out, he could do nothing but honor the request.

He sat back thinking of the years he'd known Gil Grissom. He was dedicated, well loved by employees throughout the lab. A world renown Entomologist who had published several books, hundreds of articles and was highly respected in his field. He was the most requested when it came to Universities asking for guest lectures and he was rock steady in the field. Ecklie would have to admit but only to himself that he was jealous of who Gil Grissom was. It often intrigued him however that day after day, week after week and year after year Gil came and went, putting in hour after hour to solve a crime and never settling for anything less than a full out effort from himself and his team. He never hesitated to be there at a moments notice if one of his team members needed him and as much as it irked him to admit it., he admired the fact that Gil took the blame when Sara and Catherine had gotten into the confrontation years ago and he'd stood up to him refusing to fire her. He wondered back then about a possible relationship but even under close scrutiny, he'd never seen either of them put a foot wrong and he was unable to verify any wrong doing on ether's part. He was more than sure that Gil and Sara's relationship would have still been a secret had she not been kidnapped. That caused him to chuckle, not that she'd been taken or hurt, but the fact that for all the time they'd been together, his top team of investigators never knew anything and it was carried on right under their noses.


	85. Chapter 85

A/N: you wanted action, you got it...I'm going out tonight for my birthday and decided that I would share the date with someone very special...read and you'll figure it out...enjoy.

Gil was seated behind his desk, head tilted back, fingers pressing the bridge of his nose trying hard to alleviate the pressure that was building behind his eyes. He contemplated how he was going to try to convince Sara to leave. He knew they'd had this discussion previously and she'd been adamant that she was staying and fighting along side her husband but now, they'd escalated. They'd been to his home, had been watching for God knew how long and were aware of his schedule. They had infiltrated the office leaving behind a blatant threat again. Someone they'd yet to identify had worked along side some of his office staff and it had gone undetected by even those that had been there for years. Gil was scared, not for himself but for his wife and the unborn children she carried.

"Migraine?" her soft voice floated decadently through his office as she came in, shut off the lights then proceeded to close his blinds knowing from previous experience that the darkness was a welcomed friend.

"Ummm" he still had not lifted his head even when she maneuvered around him and put her hands on each side of his head. Gently she pressed her fingers to his temples and with the slightest pressure began moving them in a rotating manner as only she seemed to be able to. "Ummmmmmmmmmmmm" she smiled as he dropped his hand from his face and pressed back against her belly. "You're too good for me..." she slapped him.."Okay, you're too good to me" she chuckled.

"Probably not as good as you've been for me" she kissed the top of his head and dropped her hands down to manipulate the tense muscles in his neck. She felt him slowly move his head from side to side and grunt or groan as she hit a particularly tight area.

"Sara..." he paused, knowing exactly what her reaction was going to be to the next suggestion. "We need to talk..." he reached up and stilled her hand with his own wrapped around her thin wrist. "You know I love you...and that's why I'm going to ask you to do something for me.." he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and pulled her around so she was standing in front of him between his legs. "You can't stay here, not now...I need...I want...you have to leave!" he felt her hands ball into fists as she tried to pull free from his grasp.

"No! Absolutely fucking not!...end of story, got it?" she backed as far as his grasp allowed but he would not release her wrists. "We agreed, we do this together...we face this together!" she was fuming, her cheeks a deep russet color, he knew from that alone she was about to explode.

"I love you sweetheart, I don't want anything to happen to your or the children..." He closed his eyes, when they opened they were filled with unshed tears..."If anything ever happened to you...I couldn't survive Sara., my life is you and the kids...please, I'm begging you, if it means you'll be safe...please..." he looked up and saw her own tears.

"No...because if I'm not here...and something happens to you...what would I do?" She felt him release her hand and she caressed his cheek.

"Chalk?" he teased trying to lighten the mood.

"No, just...I waited so long to be able to touch you...without the excuse of chalk, dust, plaster.." she smiled... "I am not going to let someone scare me away...we're in this together and I still believe Gilbert Grissom that you are the target...more than me" she put her head against his then hugged him to her belly. He could feel the babies kick against the side of his face and he smiled broadly.

"But they came to the house thinking that I wasn't there...Sara, I heard them talking about it...they distinctly said that I was supposed to be at work..." he looked up but kept his cheek pressed against her, relishing the feeling of her warmth and his children's movement.

"A ruse...they're using me as a means to control you...and if we're together..." she meant to say more but suddenly she felt a pain shoot across her abdomen..."ugggggggggg God..." she let go of his hand and bent over breathing through the intense and sudden ache. "ugggggggggg not now..._pant..._shit...shit...shit...not now...uggggggggggghhhhhhhhh" Gil quickly stood up and helped her lower herself to the seat he just vacated.

"Sara? Are you okay...what's...?" he looked down and noticed a wet stain on her slacks... "Sara did your water just break?" she bit down on her lip and quickly shook her head. "Oh shit...breath..Honey...just breath., I'll call Al" he picked up the phone as calmly as he could.

"Robbins!" he heard his friend call through the intercom.

"Al, Gil here...Sara's water just broke.."

"She's not due yet!" he heard the sound of clanking metal "Son of a bitch...hang on Gil, just dropped my crutch" he heard more cursing and a groan and grunt as the man must have bent to retrieve it.

"No shit Al!" he wanted to reach through the phone and grab him by the neck for stating the obvious..."She's still got another month to go...!" he was practically yelling now.

"I'll be right there, time the contractions..." he hung up and Gil stared at the empty line... "Sara...?" he turned to see her desperately clutching at her belly..."

"Oh God Gil what if there's something wrong?" She was starting to panic. "I ... I..." another contraction, worse than the first hit her and Gil noticed that she tried to hold her breath. Al made it to his office in record time, no easy feat for a man with two artificial legs but before they knew it he was sitting beside her listening to her breathing, taking her pulse and temperature.

"Did you have any pain before?"

"Today? No...just a twinge now and then but nothing...uggggggggggggggGod!" she scrunched up her face and both men turned in unison.

"Breath! You have to breath...don't hold your breath...!" Al looked at Gil who stared back at him with eyes as big as saucers. "Sara, I'm going to have you lay back...we'll have to remove your slacks!" he noticed that several people had gathered outside the door and motioned for Gil to shut it...he quickly walked over to it.

"Tell Catherine we need an ambulance...!" he closed it then flipped the lock for good measure. "Al what can I do?" he was immediately back at Sara's side, kneeling even though is knees were screaming at the contact of the tiled floor.

"Keep her calm!"

"I am calm...dammit...this hurts...uggggggggggggggggggggggggggg God...dam...it!" she knew they were coming fast and furious and was genuinely afraid. "I'm not going to make it to the hospital am I?" she had grabbed the front of Al's lab coat with both hands. Al simply shook his head and began to stand.

"We'll need forceps, towels...something to tie off the umbilical cords...You might want to bring a few blankets.." Gil was out the door yelling for the needed items and people scattered like an anthill under attack. He was back in a flash and Sara reached out to take his hand just as another contraction hit.

"They're coming to fast Doc..." she caught her breath "They're...oh Christ!" she doubled over with the pain as both Al and Gil gently removed her slacks and then her panties. Gil folded up the silk material and stuck it in his pocket then nervously folded her slacks. Al gently pushed her legs up and then apart and looked down.

"Well, someone is in a hurry to be born, you're already crowning!" he slipped on a pair of gloves just as Greg walked in with everything that had been requested and wound up getting a eyeful of something that might scar him for life.

"Oh shit...not looking...not looking..." he walked into Grissom pushing the necessary things at his boss. Sara chose that minute to cry out again and without thinking Greg's head turned back "Oh Holy shit! Is that...? the ...the ..." he was stuttering now, lost between wanting to tear his eyes away and stunned into stillness.

"Baby..it's the baby coming...!" Gil pushed past him to cover his wife best he could. "Greg...Greg!" his voice reverberated through his office. "Quit staring at my wife's vagina!" he pushed the younger man further away and reached out to take Sara's hand.

"Okay Sara...this little one is not going to wait...you're pretty near 10 now" he smiled trying to reassure her. "You must have been in labor when you thought it was just twinges...now, on the next contraction., I want you to push..." he motioned for Gil to sit behind her head and give her some assistance. "When she pushes Gil, you can help her by pushing her into a sitting position...should help push this one right out.." he saw Sara holding her breath and knew yet another contraction was starting. "Okay...now push!" he saw tears as she tried to blow out a breath and push at the same time, sweat pouring from her face. "Push...push...don't stop now...doing good...push Sara..."

"Try...ing..." she blew out a breath and grunted in pain..."Trying...it hurts..." she cried and Gil reached around her and took her hand.

"I know Honey..." he meant to comfort her..."We're in this together remember?" he used his most soothing tone which under normal circumstances would have soothed her...but this time it did not!

"Then you spread your God damned legs and push out a watermelon you asshole!" she curled again as the contraction built...Al looked at Gil and shook his head hoping that Grissom would realize that it was only a temporary anger..."While all your fucking co-workers get to see your...oh...shit...not..arggggggggggggggggggggggggg" she pushed for all she was worth as Gil helped best he could...Al gently worked the baby's head and when he could get a gentle grasp...pulled gently downward to aid in the delivery.

"Now the shoulders Sara...just another push...and this one will be out..."he smiled as she scrunched up her face one more and waited for the moment she could expel this baby...knowing full well it was only the beginning, the sibling surely would want out right afterwards...!

With a final push and a gentle tug from Al, the newest Grissom entered the world surrounded by two parents who loved this child dearly...a doctor who never expected to be delivering life after seeing so much death...and the various jars and insects that the"Daddy"  
Grissom had collected over the years. All in all, it was a perfect first delivery...


	86. Chapter 86

A/N: Well you asked for it, and here comes Baby II, and as usual, I'm not making it easy on anyone so take deep breath and hang on...all hands and feet in the roller coaster ride. Thanks to all for the phenomenal response to this story, to the well wishes for Dad and the birthday wishes you sent., I love you all...now enjoy!

Disclaimer: Who? Me?

If anyone had told Gil that you could instantly fall in love, he might have believed it with Sara as he knew, from the moment she waltzed into his classroom so many years ago, and into his heart., he had indelible proof...but to fall in love so completely with something that love created and you would willingly kill to protect was an awesome feeling as he held his son, Braedon Cameron Grissom to his chest in the make shift blanket. "Hey little guy" he smiled as only a Father could to a long awaited child... "I'm your Daddy...Mommy calls me Bugman...you're gonna like bugs aren't you little man?" he rocked the child and snuggled him closer.

Catherine came in with wipes and put her hands out.. "I'll take him Gil, clean him up a bit and get him wrapped up in something softer" she pulled out a beautiful blue baby blanket and Gil saw she also had a pink one at the ready. Gil gave her a look like she was attempting to kidnap his son.

"Give the baby to Catherine Gil...Sara's gonna need you over here as soon as that little one's sister decides to make her entrance..." Al was laying down another layer of padding under Sara to try to sop up some of the previous fluids from the baby boys birth. Sara was relaxing and waiting for the next series of contractions.

"Al...they ...Urrrrggggghhhh...this doesn't feel like the last one.." she seemed genuinely concerned about the change in pain she was feeling.

"What's different Sara?" Gil was immediately behind her with his hands wrapped protectively around her belly.

"It...Jesus...ohhhhhh" she panted between sharp stabbing pains... "It...hurts...different...different...uggggghhhhhh" she bent forward leaning into the intense pains. "Doesn't feel right..." she panted out...again trying to press against the pain. "Fuck...this hurts...worse...can't...can't catch...can't ...breathe..." she was fighting to pull air into her lungs as the pain intensified. "Gil make it stop...please make it..." she stopped mid sentence and Al looked up at Sara whose eyes rolled back along with her lolling head.

"Gil...we need to get this baby moving...Now!" he looked down and noticed a small pool of blood on the padding he'd recently placed under her. "when the next contractions hit, I want you to curl her forward at the same time, I need you to push down on the baby..." he grabbed the blood pressure cuff he'd used before and quickly wrapped it around one of her biceps. Gil could tell from his face, Al sucked at poker, that something was wrong..." Suddenly he felt Sara like a dead weight leaning heavily back against him.

"Sar...SARA!" he shook her slightly... "Come on Honey...Al needs you to push...come on Sweetheart..." but Sara was no longer able to hear them... "Sara please...please baby.." He saw Catherine shift forward in the chair holding their son. "Sara please...don't you do this to me...don't you dare leave me...I need you Honey...please...!" he was crying. Al gently maneuvered his fingers into the opening of her vagina and got his fingers around the baby's skull.

"Gil on the next contraction, when I tell you to, you need to push, steady and hard...steady and hard..."

"I'll hurt the baby...I don't want to hurt the baby or Sara..." He was nearly panicking now… "Al please, don't make me hurt Sara or the baby, what's going on…why?" he was hyperventilating from fear.

"Gil! Slow down! You won't do Sara or the baby any good if you pass out, now….deep breaths…in………blow it out…….in….blow it out…" he tried to keep his own voice soft and soothing. "Now, baby two doesn't appear to want to cooperate, we're going to have to help her….and Sara…. Gil nodded while trying to control his fear and his breathing. "Okay…now her body is just about ready for another contraction" he looked down and noticed the pool of blood was slightly larger. Gently he reached up and checked her BP again, it had dropped even further. Gil saw a look of panic cross the doctors features.

"Talk to me Al…please tell me what the hell is happening!" Catherine had never in all the years seen Grissom so upset, panicked or out of control as he balanced Sara against his chest.

"Sara's bleeding, her blood pressure had dropped and this little one needs to come out, she's too low for a C-Section and there really isn't any time for it., the paramedics should have been here by now.

"They're tied up with a multi-car accident on the strip!" Greg yelled into the doorway without actually coming in.

"Shit!" was the only thing anyone heard Al yell then he simply got down to work. "Okay, this is up to us Gilbert!" he looked at the younger man holding his world in his hands. When the next contraction comes, we need to get this baby girl out…okay?" Gil looked at him then buried his face against Sara's neck.

"Sweetheart don't you do this to me…to us I need you baby, I'm nothing without you. You can't leave me again, I won't make it this time, I almost didn't the last, the only reason I did was because you told me, you promised you would come back to me and never leave me again…I'm holding you to that promise. Can you hear me baby?" he cuddled her face to his, tears streaming down his face and everyone that knew him was stunned. They who always believed that the Great Gil Grissom was a robot suddenly knew better, even more so than when Sara had been kidnapped. Then he'd managed to keep it together and with the help of his entire team and Catherine by his side, they'd found her and Gil had controlled his emotions. Tonight they burst forth and he could do nothing to stop them. "Sara Jayne, please sweetheart, you told me you'd be here for me and the babies, Brae is here, we just need to get Allie out…" it was the first time anyone knew for sure the names they'd picked for their children. "Sara I know I've been an asshole in the past and getting together wasn't easy., I know I pushed you away time after time but I've loved you since I saw you walk into my class all those years ago." He sobbed "You know, we both know I wasted so much time because I was afraid…I was so afraid, I'm not afraid anymore, we're gonna have babies, we have a dog…" he smiled into her neck and kissed her over and over. "Come on baby! Please don't leave me Sara. Please!!!!!" he sobbed against her skin and felt her stir slightly. "That's it Sara, come back to on baby, you can do it…come back to me!" he rocked her gently.

"Okay Gil, I can feel the contraction start….when I tell you, I need you to push firm and steady over the baby like you're kneading bread okay?" Gil nodded "Then I want you to also curl Sara forward so she's using her own body to push the baby, just till she's able to do it herself" he could see she was starting to come around. Checking the BP quickly, he noticed that it had at least stabilized for the moment.

"Sweetheart, I'm trying not to hurt you too much!" he kissed her cheek as Al confirmed it was time to manually move the baby.

"Now Gil, steady kneading motion downward…that's it….keep going" he deftly worked his fingers around the skull of the baby and when he had a decent grip, he pulled downward and felt her make some progress…

"Hurts…………..bad…" Sara mumbled and it was the most blessed thing besides the cry of his son that Grissom had ever heard.

"I know baby, just a bit more." He curled her forward and pushed downward on her belly….

"God it hurts……Gil……make it stop please…" she begged and groaned at the same time.

"Little more Sara must a……wait…..don't push…Gil don't push…" he saw the baby's color did not look good and as she progressed a few more inches he saw why…

"Need to push….I need to push" Sara started to bear down and Al suddenly yelled at her.

"Sara don't push….for God sake don't push just yet…" he was working to get the cord which had double looped itself around the infant's neck free. "Just breathe but don't push…" he flexed his finger and wiggled the pulsing cord first one loop then the second until it came free. Al breathed a sigh of immediate relief, especially when the baby started to pink up in color. "Okay Sara, one more…when you feel ready….one more big push….."

Sara took in a deep breath as she felt her abdomen contract once more. "Ready baby?" Gil wrapped his arms around her once more and together they worked in tandem to bring little Elise Cassandra Grissom into the world.


	87. Chapter 87

A/N: I'll get a few more chapters today, this was written at work while waiting out a snowstorm that has blanketed the midwest. We're in for 12 inches or more of snow and I'll have plenty of time this afternoon to let my imagination run rampant...so enjoy..thanks for the awesome reviews...also, you'll find out about the baby names (some of you were confused thinking I'd named the baby twice, well, she's getting a new name...just read on and why...I'm sure you'll understand...LOL

Disclaimer: Come on...sign on the dotted line..then we get the strike over with, Sara (Jorja) mentioned a comeback...and we will all be happy and let them get peace (at least for a chapter or two...hahahaha!)

They sat in the office waiting for the ambulance, Sara held their little girl and Gil had Braedon snuggled to his chest rocking him back and forth as he paced. "Where the hell is that damned ambulance?" Al had been on the phone several times and was told that there had been a huge pile up on the strip and every available Medical Personnel was on scene and as soon as one could be freed up, they'd be on their way.

"This is bullshit!" Brass was livid, he was thankful that the births had eventually finished smoothly, that Al had found what was causing the bleeding, it was a leak in the umbilical cord from their daughter and upon delivery, everything eventually worked itself out. "If this hadn't gone the way it had..." everyone knew without further comment what he was thinking.

"I'm okay Brass but thanks for caring.." she snuggled the baby close to her breast and felt the infant rooting around. Catherine caught the slightly confused look as to '_what do I do now?_" coming from her and ushered everyone but herself and Gil from the room. Since Al had charted their weights and length and time of birth, it looked like at least one of the children was born with a healthy appetite.

"Looks like your daughter wants to nurse!" she smiled and Gil looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"What do I do?" Sara tried to figure out how to maneuver the baby into the best position. Catherine helped untie the gown and then showed her how to help the baby latch on. She was in awe that the baby took so well to it.

"You look like a natural."Catherine beamed and Gil simply stared at a sight he never thought he would be privileged to see, a beautiful woman, Sara...his wife holding one of his two children, it was a dream he'd carried for years without the belief that it would or could ever come true. The picture of her snuggling the nursing infant to her breath would be something that he would hold forever in his memory. His son started to fuss and he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Sara?" Both she and Catherine stared up at him as he tried to move the baby around without upsetting him further.

"He's probably hungry too, it will take a couple days for your milk to completely come in but you can nurse one on each breast if you're comfortable?" she took the baby from Gil then handed him right back. "I might as well show you how you can help Sara." Gil looked genuinely fearful. "Relax, I'm right here but I won't always be and it takes a little bit more practice with two at once." She showed him how to place the baby so Sara could balance both on pillows. "Then just turn him, he might be easier coming around the other way..." she guided him but made sure he did the majority of the work "now when he's there, you can gently place his mouth to the nipple and with your fingers, guide it to his lips." she smiled and Gil quietly moved her breast to where his son could latch on.

"He doesn't seem to be getting it..." he looked panicked and Catherine laughed.

"They all don't at first but after a few tries, he'll get it.." she reassured him as she motioned for him to try again. By the third time, Braedon had finally latched onto the breast, Gil was sweating bullets and Sara was in awe of the help Catherine provided and the fact that Gil was willing to help out.

"It's as simple as that..." she laughed. Their little girl finished first and Catherine showed Sara how to use the tip of her finger to break the suction of her little lips. "It's better if you let her drink her fill then take her off the breast, your milk will come in faster and she won't get in the habit of lazily sucking at your nipple to comfort her instead of nursing like she should." Gil cracked a smile at the mention of lazily sucking on her nipples but he hoped Catherine wouldn't see his reaction...she did unfortunately and she wasn't letting him off the hook. "Those.." she motioned to Sara's breasts "are off limits to you unless you like milk!" she winked and Gil blushed furiously...

"Ummmm gee thanks Cat.." he took their little girl and gently laid her on his shoulder with a pad underneath her, then walked around patting her back until she let out an unusually loud burp. "That's my girl!" he beamed...

When they were both finished nursing and changed thanks to Catherine having had diapers in her office that were part of a gift basket she'd meant to give them, they were swaddled and sleeping peacefully on the sofa with their parents. Catherine let the others come back in.

"Hey Gil...where did you come up with their names?" Brass took a seat across from Sara and motioned that he wanted to hold one of the babies. He was making up for lost time with his own child. Gil looked to Sara to see what she wanted to say.

"They were friends of mine when I went through the system...do you like them?" Secretly, she had hoped Gil would have decided to name their little girl Alexis Rose instead of Elise Cassandra but she felt foolish saying anything to him. She'd told him how they were her closest friends but didn't tell him that when she finally got out of the system, she'd had a run in with Elise that did not end pleasantly...

"Well..." Brass had a strange look on his face as he peered down at the sleeping little girl in his arms. "I love your son's name, honestly I do...but...I guess Allie sounds so much like Ellie...I know it sounds silly but I wish so much more out of life for this little one...not that I wouldn't give my right arm to change things with Ellie...I've tried, on several occasions but..." they knew how each visit had ended. When he'd been injured and she wasn't sure he was going to make it, her only concern was what if anything he'd left her.

Sara looked up at Gil "Would you be opposed to changing her name? It would be easy enough to do right now before..." Gil smiled looking at one of his closest friends.

"How do you feel about being the Godfather of Alexis Rose Grissom?" Brass' jaw dropped. "And Catherine, we'd like you to be the Godmother of Braedon.." his other friend spun around speechless. "While they'll have tons of uncles...and aunts.." he saw Wendy and Mandy standing nearby..."We're having a hard time picking the second set..." he teased..."So I was thinking...How about Conrad for Godfather?" Ecklie coughed and choked up the water he'd just taken a sip of.. "And Sara, this is totally up to you...it's a little off the wall and I'll understand if you say no...but ..." Sara already knew who he was considering and smiled. She also knew that the minute the name came out...everyone in the room would be floored.

"Wait...I was thinking...of someone too" she offered. Gil stopped and waited for her suggestion. "How about if we ask Heather?" Jim started coughing, Catherine stood there with her mouth agape...and everyone else held their breaths thinking that the biggest war was about to start then realized that Sara herself had offered up the name and not Gil. Grissom smiled wondering how it was that Sara so easily read his mind. "She's a friend of yours...and after the way you described what she was willing to do for her own grandchild, who better?" Her husband simply grinned.

"Will you call her Sara?" He knew that there had been some discomfort between him and Heather last time and figured that Sara would be the best go between in breaking the news to her. Before she could answer two paramedics showed up at the door.

"Where are you from?" Catherine noticed they were not wearing the normal uniform of the LVFD Paramedics but ones that had Superior Ambulance Services on them.

"We're a private firm, there was an accident that apparently tied up most of Las Vegas medical personnel and we're covering some of their calls." they brought in a stretcher and rolled it along side Sara and the babies. "Oh...babies...twins..." one of them muttered under his breath. The second tried to cover the fact that they seemed ill informed. One of them reached for the little girl and Brass drew back...

"I'd like to see your orders or something that tells me you're who you say you are!" he stood up and opened his coat displaying his shield that was clipped to his belt.

"Who's' asking?" the taller of the two stood straight looking like he was ready to go toe to toe with Brass.

"Captain Brass!" he handed the baby to Catherine who moved further back toward the shelves in Gil's office. Mandy moved in and gently picked up Brae from Sara and positioned herself next to Catherine. "Now, about those papers.." the smaller of the two moved toward the door only to find his path blocked by Nick, Warrick, Greg and Conrad Ecklie.

"I'm telling you we're from Superior Ambulance and we had instructions to pick up one Sara Sidle...urmmmm Sidle-Grissom" he read from a hand written note." The taller of the two read nervously.

"That note, you write it yourself or get it from dispatch?" Gil had enough friends on the city Ambulance to know that dispatch normally wrote out the notes and then pegged them on a board for the Ambulance driver to retrieve unless they were given via cell phone and then they'd have been handwritten by one of the team on the rig.

"Got it when we came in this morning...it was sitting in my in-box." he showed it to Brass who motioned for Nicky to take it with a gloved hand. "Odd to say the least, I'm used to picking them up at dispatch..." he looked sincere but Jim was taking no chances.

"You said you got a call telling you to pick up Sara...did you recognize the voice?" He took out his note pad and leaned against Gil's desk.

"No, I...didn't...just that an ambulance was needed at this address, they called on my cell phone but the strange thing was it was a blocked number" the man unclipped his cell phone and handed that to Brass as well. "Listen, I work for Superior...honestly I do, and I thought it was strange that we got this in the in-box...you know we run pretty much like City...we get our messages on a board or a call from Dispatch...but, I guess I didn't think anything of it...when I heard on the radio about the accident, I figured someone was cutting corners and dropped off messages to the box...I'm not in any trouble here am I?" he saw the crowd of people still milling around.

"Not right now but ..." He held up his hand and motioned for Catherine and Gil to follow him out of the office. "You guys make yourselves comfortable, we'll be right back" he walked out the door and the throng of people closed ranks as Ecklie also followed them.

"What are you thinking? Gil walked into one of the interrogation rooms that he knew had been checked for any listening devices. Brass waited till everyone was gathered.

"I'm thinking we let them pick up Sara..." Gil opened his mouth and the others began to protest... "Hear me out..!"

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Gil was already shaking his head and Catherine was clearly agreeing to whatever he was about to say.

"No...I'm not, I'm thinking...they seem pretty much on the up and up as far as not knowing who gave the instructions to get Sara., we need to find out where she was supposed to be delivered...and I say we give them someone who looks like Sara..."

"An undercover officer?" Ecklie had his thumb pressed to his lips in deep thought. "I see where you're going with this...a sting.." Brass nodded and saw Gil take a breath.

"We don't know who the hell we're up against Brass, what's to say that whomever is watching Gil and Sara aren't here and they make a single phone call tipping off their boss?" Catherine made a lot of sense. "We have to get Sara and those babies to the hospital without anyone knowing differently...we can't get our own ambulance...

"I can drive her!" Gil volunteered.

"No! You'd be expected to go with her in the ambulance., whoever set this up is smart enough to know that you're not about to let Sara out of your sight!"

"So I'm supposed to what? Go with your decoy?" Gil knew most of the cops on the various shifts and there wasn't a single person that could pass for him even at a fast glance. "And leave my wife and children here?" he was visibly upset and Catherine knew from the color of his face that there was no way he would leave his family.

"Sara won't go for it either!" Catherine quickly interjected.

"She would well, if we don't tell her..." Gil was shaking his head harder.

"Absolutely fucking not...I've hidden enough from her in the past, I won't do it Jim...I won't lie to her!" he paced the entire interior of the room and it was at that moment, Conrad knew that Gil Grissom was fully vested in his family role...he admired him that much more. "I promised her Jim, no lies, no keeping things from her..."

"Gil, this could be what we need to crack this case...!" Jim was also worried about using Gil as a decoy but he also knew they'd be hard pressed to get anyone that looked like his friend. "It could invariably save her life!"

"I can't Jim...not this...if something happened to me Sara would never forgive herself, I'd leave two children without a parent and I can't do that., I'll protect my family by being with them!" He walked out of the room leaving Catherine, Brass and Conrad standing there.

"What now?" Brass looked between the others.

"We give them 'Sara' and we find someone we can make up to look like Gil...or we call in the FBI!" he hadn't wanted to involve them knowing exactly how uncomfortable Gil was whenever he'd been forced to work with them. Actually, it was never working with them, it had always started out as a supposed partnership but true to their nature, the FBI usually tried from the get go to take over and run the show. Gil would not like it but there didn't seem to be any other way.


	88. Chapter 88

Brass in the end decided to agree with Grissom, they would need to have someone with very similar physical traits to stand in for Gil, or they'd have to come clean with Sara and tell them that her husband, the father of her newborn twins was going to act as bait himself. Brass wasn't looking forward to being in the room when she was told about it.

"There's no other way Brass, either we come clean with her and do this, get a stand in which we both know is nearly impossible...bring in the Feds which if I'm right means we're going to be dealing with that grandstanding Culpepper again or we sit and wait for them to screw up...or succeed, which I have the feeling is only a matter of time." Gil paced the interrogation room wondering what was going through Sara's mind right now, besides the fact that she needed to get her and the twins to the hospital soon.

"I don't envy you telling her this!" Brass was serious but trying to lighten the situation. Gil shook his head.

"Me? Oh no, we're doing this together...this was your brilliant idea Brass!" his eyes betrayed the fear of bringing this subject to his wife. "I wouldn't want to be you when I tell her who thought up this hair brain scheme!" he tried to joke with his friend and wished he felt lighter about this but he had the feeling that if bringing in his team pissed off whomever was behind the original phone call...then bringing in the Feds might just bring about a showdown.

Archie came running down the hall with a printout in his hand "Anyone seen Grissom?" he could be heard outside the interrogation room looking for his Supervisor. "I need to talk to him as soon as possible!" he sounded slightly agitated.

"What is it Arch?" Gil stuck his head outside the door and pulled the AV tech back into the room with him and Brass.

"I hope you don't mind, I had to have a friend of mine work with me on that tape you gave me" he replied sheepishly, "I know...I know you wanted as few people involved but apparently, even I wasn't aware that there was such thing as a dual layered tape so be thankful Tango was around, I went over and over it about 20 times and couldn't crack the darn thing., Tango asks me if it's dual layered and I didn't even consider it...sorry!" he shrugged his shoulders. Anyway, it's no coincidence that it's tied in with your investigation" he was winded from the long spiel he was giving. "It seems that Arron was indeed being courted by Southwest as far back as 7 months ago from what we got on tape. Phone messages started out nice enough...offered him everything but the city key to Vegas...they get darker with each passing phone call. I had Brass pull phone records for me from Arron and Southwest and several calls were made back and forth" he flipped a page on the clipboard folder he held. "275 phone calls between them, now I'm guessing they're not just calling to shoot the breeze.."

Gil nodded for him to continue.

"After that, phone calls started going out from Southwest to all of Arron's friends, family and acquaintances. One of the calls back to Arron is on the tape, it asks him if he is tired of playing his game and wants to reconsider their offer. Arron made calls to each of his friends and family within 24 hours of them getting calls from Southwest...so I did a little more digging." he flipped another page. "The calls get more frequent to Arron each passing day always after what you and I would consider normal business hours so I'm thinking it's someone doesn't want the boss to know what's happening on company time?" sounded feasible to Gil and Brass.

"Or a boss that doesn't want his company to know what he's up to!" Brass interjected "I mean...kinda stupid if you think about it, companies more so these days seem to keep tabs on every incoming and outgoing phone call, most are recorded for 'quality control!" he quoted with his fingers but most employees know their phone calls, emails and computer time is being recorded, why risk it unless you're the big dog and you think you can either get away with it...or make the call logs go away?" that too made perfect sense.

"Archie, do any of the outbound calls come from one particular number?" Arch went through pages and pages of call logs which he could see over the tech's shoulder were color coordinated.

"That's the strange thing...the majority at the beginning originated with Jeff Clayton, each time he was in town which by the employee time cards shows was at least a week out of each month, the phone calls would start up., then they would stop completely for two days only to have 10 - 12 calls start for a period of 23 hours and those came from Catalina's phone. Those would stop, two weeks would go by, and then the same cycle would start up again. The only thing I can't seem to find is phone calls coming from the office to Arron's family and friends, so I've got phone calls into each of them to see if they'd authorize us to get their phone records from the time this started and compare if any or all of them might have received phone calls from a similar number. My guess is that it will show up to a disposable phone but it's worth a shot."

"It's gonna be a lot of overtime Arch!" Gil warned honestly.

"Hey, as long as you're willing to sign my timecard, I have no problem with it Griss..." he smiled. "I'm working on a few more things and when I have more detail, I'll come find you again..." he smiled then walked out of the room.

"Well, we just connected several of the dots with Clayton, Arron and Catalina and Polly..." he shrugged "But we still don't know where this is leading to." Brass sighed wishing this would all just come to a head.

"I have a feeling...and call it gut feeling, time on the job but hear me out" he pulled out the chair and sat down. "Jeff finds out there is a glitch with the landing system...he designed or knows, Arron also discovers something after the problem he had...wait a minute..." Gil jumped up and was off running down the hall leaving Brass staring at his empty chair.

"I hate when he does that!" he got up; pushed in the chair that Gil had vacated and then followed him out the door.

Gil was after Archie again and this time they took a walk outside a safe distance from the building. "I need you to check and see if either Jeff or Arron had anything to do with Union Airlines. We know Arron flew for them for awhile but I'm more interested in the area of programming. He had problems with the tower something about blipping on and off the radar...so the real question is did Jeffrey Clayton have any dealings with Union since we already know he did work for Southwest." By the time he finished his statement, Brass had finally caught up with him.

"Next time you get a thought in the middle of thinking...could you at least drag me with you by my tie?" he was winded from chasing through the lab trying to find him until Wendy mentioned she had seen both Gil and Archie heading toward the parking lot. "What are you thinking...?" he'd caught the tail end of the conversation but not the beginning.

"Arron complained about a glitch in the landing systems and his friend already said that he was working on a flight improvement program...Let's say that the program that Jeff Clayton sold had bugs in it...what if Arron realized that there was a glitch in the system...Clayton figures out Arron's on to him...and tries to convince Arron to work with him as opposed to against him...there would be an awful lot of money to be lost it if got out that the system that the top airlines was using was faulty."

"Not to mention it would have ruined Clayton's reputation!" they both nodded.

"But who was willing to kill to protect it? Clayton's dead, along with Arron!" Brass was jotting notes on his 'holy trinity' card that Grissom lived by….the pieces were coming together but more slowly then either of them liked. "We've got two dead women, one that worked closely with Clayton whenever he was in town and what; Catalina was killed because of her friendship with Penny? Still doesn't add up…" he was visibly frustrated now. "And then Penny winds up dead as well, the only one we've talked to that's still alive is McPherson and Arron's friend."

"Yeah, and whoever is behind this apparently thinks we're close to figuring it out...!" Gil's hands jammed in his pockets. "Or we wouldn't be having this conversation. "I just can't figure out where the two women come in. The only thing that connects them besides their working with Southwest is the key to the safe deposit box and that tape."

"Maybe one of them had a romantic link to Clayton?" Brass pulled out his notepad "But unless we can find a connection there, I don't know….still doesn't make sense why they'd risk threatening you or Sara…I'm still saying that there is a rat among us buddy." He clapped Gil and the shoulder "Now go tell your wife that you're either looking for your doppelganger or, you're going to be bait!" he left Gil standing there, looking at his own reflection in the mirror.


	89. Chapter 89

A/N: thanks to the snowstorm and weather, I was too busy to update this weekend, I know..(ducking the snow being tossed at me)...but I will try to get one or two more chapters out tonight...

Disclaimer: Sadly, I had to return William Petersen and the rest of the cast back to the studio where I hope they will begin filming once more...Jorja...get back to work!

Brass had managed to get away from Gil before he was dragged into Grissom's office to confront Sara. When Gil walked in, hands in his pocket and not looking directly at his wife, it was the first tip off that something was up. He hadn't said hello, he hadn't made any attempt to kiss her or touch his children but instead stood there looking at the tiles on the floor. He refused to make eye contract.

"Spill it Grissom!" she was cradling the babies on her lap and still in awe of them. Catherine immediately stood up and joined Sara at the opposite end of the sofa. "And don't tell me nothing, you don't come in with your tail tucked ..." she shot him a warning glance that lies wouldn't be tolerated.

"Can you leave me and Sara alone?" he looked at Cath and Warrick who had been quietly standing in the corner against one of the bookshelves in his office.

"Sure...no problem, want me to take the babies?" she motioned to Sara who decided that it probably would be good not to have them start off life hearing their parents arguing...

"That might be wise!" she spoke slow and concise kissed each child and handed one to Catherine and the other to Warrick. "Just don't go too far in case they have to kiss their father for the last time!" she slowly tried to turn to face him on the sofa. The entire time, Gil stood there with his hand buried deeper wondering just how long he'd be relegated to the sofa after this one...and if he was lucky, would it even be in his own home.

"Sara, I don't want you getting worked up now!" Al had just finished taking her blood pressure 110/80...Gil, it goes any higher and you just might be my next patient on the slab!" and he walked out along with everyone else. Gil wondered what he had done to be on everyone's shit list but wisely kept his mouth closed. When the door was finally closed, she turned her head to him and reached out a hand.

Gil came over and sat along side her, barely having his ass comfortably on the seat. "Sara...we're running out of time, Ecklie wants to bring in the Feds on this..." she looked up at him knowing he hated working with the FBI.

"Let me guess...Culpepper?" Gil nodded. "Isn't there anything else we can do?" The sincerity that shown in her chestnut eyes and her question took his breath away.

"There is...but you...you're...I know...listen, before you say anything.." he was stumbling through his words again..."Brass tried to find someone that looks like me and you...we have a Police woman who's done vice before, she could be your twin" he thought back to his feelings with Debbie Marlin case and the anger he felt that Dr. Lurie had gotten away with murder. "But they can't find..." he looked away but her cool hands on each side of his face turned him to face her once more. "There's no one that can pass for me Sweetheart!" he decided to let the realization of what he was asking sink in by herself.

"And you're thinking of what?" she knew...without a doubt she knew..."Posing as yourself?" He tried once more to look away but again she stopped him. "Is this what you want to do?" she knew he didn't. Gil Grissom was if anything not a stupid man but, when it came to the safety of his wife and children, there was every possibility that he'd let dumber heads prevail.

"What if it's the only way to protect you Sara? And Brae and Lexie?" he held her hands in his own and she could feel his fingers vibrating from nerves, between hers. "They've already added another threat because I involved the team."

"We...Gilbert Grissom, involved the team, not you, not me...we!" she wanted him to always remember that they agreed to do things together. "If you are going to do this, then..." he stood up...

"Absolutely fucking well not!" he knew she was about to say she was going to pose as herself. "First off, you've just had not one but two babies...you planning on leaving them without a Mother if this goes wrong?" he backed away as far as her hold on his hand allowed. "Second of all, this isn't something CSI's do, we let the cops handle it!" she waited, knowing he'd just listed the top reasons why he himself shouldn't be even considering such a dangerous undertaking. She knew he'd eventually catch up so she simply shook her head in agreement. "Thirdly, I forbid it!" he saw her brow crinkle and knew he was treading on thin ice with that one but to Sara, there was reason number 3. "Fourthly..." he stopped to think if that was even a legitimate word..."There's still a very real possibility that someone inside could tip them off and then where would we be?" Well, reason number 5 was just as plausible to her ears. "Why aren't you saying anything?" His voice was shrill which was a clear tip off that Gil was coming into his own thought process.

"Why should I have to, you've done everything to talk yourself out of it!" she smiled.

"I wasn't talking me...I was talking about...I...you said...I was saying...then you said...and I was...I meant!" his hands couldn't wave around much faster without causing a stiff breeze. "I'm not doing this am I?" he suddenly stopped and shoved his hands back in his pockets at a loss for what to add to his tirade. Sara shook her head but held her tongue. "I need to protect you Sara, you and Brae and Lexie, you're my life...the three of you!" he knelt down, knees screaming in protest.

"And you, Gilbert Grissom are my life and the Father of my children who will NOT be growing up learning about you through a picture book, do you understand me?" she let go of his hands with a show of finality. Gil stood up, tucked his hands in his pockets and looked at Brass who suddenly showed up in the doorway.

"Ecklie's chosen to call in the FBI!" His friend filled him in. It had taken about two minutes of a conversation that brought up his suggestion to have Ecklie ask if he'd lost his fucking mind. Brass hadn't thought that Conrad would be so eager to call in Culpepper after the last incident but when he asked Brass if he lost his memory…..

"Sara just gave birth to their children, in his office….do you think I'm about to let one of my best CSI's go into a sting operation where everything indicates he wouldn't come out alive? Do you honestly think I would survive Sara's wrath if I even said yes? Are you out of your fucking mind?" What the hell are you thinking James Brass?" the director had been beside himself with fury at the man before him. Brass nodded when he was told the FBI would be taking over the case and quietly walked away while Conrad still stewed.


	90. Chapter 90

A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews as I work out tying up the ends of some of the story and the ups and downs continue...decided you all could use a lighter chapter so enjoy!

Disclaimer: Yippeee they're going back to work...okay Alliance/A.Z...and Carol, I'm letting you have them back reluctantly, now get Jorja back and you can have them indefinitely...

Ecklie sat there pondering whether or not Jim Brass had simply lost his mind. "What the hell could that idiot be thinking putting Gil in a position of danger like that?" he questioned himself. "There's no way...I'm glad they confided in me that they think this is an inside job...but who else can I trust with this? I really hated working with Culpepper but I know that's who they're going to send." He'd phoned the Mayor and filled him in on updates.

"I agree with you whole heartedly Conrad, this is not something I want Gil walking into." He'd sat down with Ecklie the minute he'd been paged. "I know that Gil and Culpepper had issues last time, I could try to get someone else...his ego is something that I don't really want to deal with again!" Brian knew that Culpepper had insisted that he get full credit for catching the serial killer that had in actuality been brought down by Catherine's quick draw and Gil's intuition that Culpepper was off base with who he decided might fit the profile.

"Not to mention, he certainly didn't win any points with Grissom using Sara as bait in his sting operation!" Ecklie felt a reminder was in order. "She wound up being the victim of a pick pocket while another victim was killed...we should have listened to Gil when he said that the sting wasn't going to get the desired results."

"Well Conrad, Gil didn't use practical sense when he decided to take on Sid Goggle himself either if you want to be totally honest!" Brian shot back.

Gil had gone to check out Sid Goggle after finding out that he was an employee of the gym that all of his victim's had used trying out trial memberships just like Sara had. Warrick and Sara had been the ones to figure that out and brought it to Gil's attention after he had publicly stated that he did not believe that they'd caught the 'Strip Strangler" as Culpepper had so nicely dubbed him.

Gil had paid for that by being suspended by the Mayor and after turning over the reins to Catherine, had gone home suffering yet another migraine. His team, true to their undying loyalty had chosen to continue with him as team leader, with Catherine's blessing and they'd brought down the suspect shortly afterwards. Brian wondered if bringing him in to work so personally with Gil was such a wise move but knowing that the person threatening them had escalated enough to try to bring in outside assistance with the paramedics had shown they were serious.

"Conrad, what about putting Gil and Sara in protective custody?" he wanted them safe, and whatever it took, he'd be willing to do. He knew where his bread was buttered and losing Gil and/or Sara would be a sure way to find his ass looking for support elsewhere.

"I think it's something we should seriously consider. Gil's convinced Sara and the children are the target, Sara brought up a good point saying that she thinks they, her and the kids would be a means to an end of controlling Gil and that he in fact would be the true target...I happen to agree with her way of thinking right now." Conrad nervously tapped his pencil against his fingertip.

"Would Gil agree to this?" Brian was just as unsettled and it was easy enough to read by the way he kept pulling at his normally meticulous tie.

"I think if Sara agrees, Gil will go along with it." He wondered if Brian was thinking that the relationship that they'd chose to ignore might now be causing some problems to the lab. Brian seemed to know where his thoughts were.

"If they didn't use Sara, they would try someone or something else Conrad...our job right now is to protect them at all costs and if that means moving them to a safe place, I don't care if we have to send them to Outer Mongolia...I want nothing to happen to that family..am I clear?" he stood up in effect telling Ecklie the meeting was over for the time being.

"Crystal!" he answered then paged Gil.

Gil was sitting with Sara when the page came through. "I have to run to Ecklie's office will you be okay here?" he looked at her and the twins. He'd been holding his daughter and saw that Brae had fallen asleep again in Sara's arms.. "I'll just take Lexie with me for a moment!" he smiled figuring that whatever Conrad had to say, he could say while he had his hands full. "That way Brae can sleep and if she gets fussy, I'll bring her back." he leaned down and kissed Sara before exiting leaving her with the rest of the group. Sara was secretly thrilled with the way Gil wanted to show off his babies.

Walking carefully down the hall, Gil made his way into Conrad's office, slid the door closed and took a seat. As Conrad finished up his phone call, back to the opening of the door, he slowly spun around to find Grissom sitting with the baby in his arms. It took a moment for him to realign his thoughts at the sight before him. "You paged me Conrad?" Gil sat back and gently rocked the infant who stared up at him like he was the greatest Dad in the world. Gil couldn't hide his admiration for the little girl that was the spitting image of her Mother, eyes that looked like they might be brown and dark curly hair...

"Is that your daughter?" Conrad stood up and came around. "May I?" he held out his hands and Gil gently slipped her into his capable hands. "She's beautiful, looks like your wife" he looked up and saw the pride in Gil's face as he nodded. "I talked to Brass who I think lost a couple marbles since witnessing the birth of your kids" he cracked a smile..."I don't agree with his plan so I talked to Brian, he suggested two things., I need your honest input on both." he waited for Gil to acknowledge his words.

"Okay..." he said slowly.

"Well, Brian mentioned protective custody for you and Sara and" he raised up the baby thinking that might be what tipped the scaled in their favor. "Your children of course...and I agree with him Gil" Grissom remained silent. "Also, we're thinking of bringing in the FBI." Gil looked up and shook his head. "Listen Gil, I know the problems we had with Culpepper, I don't want you anywhere near him that's why we mentioned moving you..." he knew that Gil was having a hard time with this. "I want, Brian and I want to protect the entire family...which includes you at all costs..." he rocked Lexie and walked around his desk then noticed how Gil suddenly leaned forward. "Relax Dad, I've done this before you know?" he was teasing of course and understood that Grissom was going to be a tad overprotective right now. He took a seat behind his desk, shifted Lexie over his shoulder and gently rocked her. "Now I know you're not one to run, trust me Gil, I don't blame you but...the safest thing right now is to get you and your family out of Vegas and I for one agree with Brian on this." Gil sat back giving him time to front his own view.

"And what's to say Conrad that in retaliation, they don't go after members of my team?" the question was valid. "I couldn't live with myself knowing I left my entire team with their heads on the proverbial chopping block and took off for the hills."

"I'm more than sure Gil if I put this to a vote, you're team is going to tell you that keeping yourself and your wife and kids has to be top priority right now." Ecklie was trying to make him see reason.

"Think about this Conrad, every time we get a case that has some big shot hiding in the wing we're supposed to hide our heads in the sand or turn tail and run?" Gil was upset that someone was pulling strings and making them all dance like puppets. "Because someone finds out our Achilles heel and finds out that it worked once, it could work again. No, what we need is to find the fucking leak in this department, plug it and then find out who and what the hell is behind four victims being dead and we know damned well there's some connection and can't figure it out. For Christ sake, we're the number two lab in the country!" Gil stood up and paced the office., Conrad was gently rocking Lexie who startled at her father's outburst.

"Look, if we didn't have these precious babies to worry about and the fact your wife just gave birth..." Gil's head shot around looking for an accusation, he found none in the features of his boss. "All I'm saying Grissom is that realistically, Sara's not in any condition right now to defend her kids though, I'd willingly put my entire years salary on her if someone tries to get to them mind you...but, why put her in that kind of position when we can ensure your safety by putting you up somewhere?" Gil stopped and thought about it.

"You know, I'm going to have to run it by Sara don't you?" Gil sat back down when he realized that Conrad had gotten Lexie back to sleep. "The ultimate decision is up to her!" Ecklie knew with the kids, there was was a real certainty that she'd agree.

"Okay, let's go talk to her" he stood up, baby over his shoulder and headed out the door before Gil had a chance to reach for his daughter. All Grissom could do was follow quickly behind.

Sara was sitting on the sofa waiting to find out who was going to take her and the kids to the hospital to be checked out. Braedon was nursing again and she found it amazing that no matter what, her son had the appetite of his father. Conrad walked in with the infant snuggled against his shoulder taking her completely by surprise...or the same could have been said when he looked down and saw the baby nursing at her breast..

"Oh Jesus!... Oh Shit...um...oh..ummmmm...a...Sara...We...ummm" he was stuttering and everyone that had been with Sara and the baby started cracking up laughing at his expense. Conrad's face turned a brilliant crimson and Gil almost felt sorry for him. "Could you cover that..." his finger waived to her chest which was only minimally exposed while her son nursed. She simply giggled as she and Catherine exchanged glances.

"Relax Conrad it's a flipp'n breast!" she giggled harder. "See" she saw him turn around quickly to place his back to her.

"So not looking!" he was purplish red now."Please Sidle/Grissom..Sara... would you please..um..holster your...weapon!" he thought that would get his point across but everyone laughed harder. Sara, taking pity on him pulled the receiving blanket up over her shoulder covering herself and the baby.

"What are you doing with my daughter...?" she teased as he slowly turned back to talk to her. "Weapon holstered SIR!" she added making him balk.

"I was just...practicing..." he laughed as Lexie started to squirm. "I think she's ready for Mommy..." he started to hand her back when Gil interceded.

"Permission to unholster my other weapon?" she couldn't help herself..she had to say it. Conrad cocked an eyebrow then chuckled along with her before turning his back.

"Permission granted but make it quick will you?" He waited until Gil took the baby and positioned her on Sara's breast then took Brae in his arms when his son finished. He then gently replaced the receiving blanket over the other side and helped her cover up before she began talking to Ecklie again.

"Okay, weapon number two holstered Sir!" she teased one last time. Ecklie turned to see that Gil had switched babies and was now sitting behind his wife, hip against the arm of his sofa. "Now Ecklie, what is it you needed to talk to us about?"

Looking around the room and realizing that only the immediate team was present with Brass as well, he motioned for Catherine to close and lock Gil's door. "Has this office been checked for bugs?" Catherine nodded that she'd had it scanned and Archie had been in there earlier before all the excitement had begun.

"Okay, this goes no where beyond these walls" he sat down against Gil's desk top. "Sara I called a meeting with Brian today, brought him up to speed on where we are with the threats against you, Gil and the kids" he picked up a pencil and began rolling it in his fingers. "I...we decided, with your permission of course that right now, the only feasible way to protect all of you is to put you in protective custody." he saw her eyes widen and land on her husband.

"And you talked to Gil about this?" she never looked at Conrad as she asked the question. Gil nodded."Did you agree to this?" she wanted to see if Gil remembered that no decisions were to be made unless they both agreed and made them together.

"I did not...well, I did ..." She opened her mouth to speak. "In a manner of speaking Honey, I agreed but only and I stress only if you agree to it!" he wanted her to know he had not forgotten his promise.

"I see" she Lexie release her nipple and knew the baby was going to need to be burped. Gil held up the blanket as she tried to maneuver her child while tucking herself back into the gown covering her. When she was done she gently placed Lexie over her shoulder and patted her back until she belched rather loudly.

"Just like her Mommy!" Gil smiled as Brae release his own little gas bubble and farted in his Daddy's palm.."

"Just like his Daddy!" Sara shot back and everyone in the room cracked up laughing once again as Gil tried to deny the fact.

"Hey I don't shit in my pants!" he knew from the odor that his son had nicely deposited his last meal for him. "Cath would you throw me some wipes and a diaper" he knew that his friend had prepared things and she asked him if he wanted her to change the baby.

"Noooooo" Sara shook her head as her husband was just about to turn him over to Catherine. "Daddy can change him just fine...think of it as a learning curve...Catherine can help you out but you're changing him yourself buddy!" she winked at Catherine.

"Yes Dear!" he stood up and moved around his desk. Catherine laid a pad down and motioned for him to put the baby on it then instructed him how to quickly and efficiently clean and change his son. He was a natural and held him up before he got the diaper in place. Braedon chose that moment to christen his Daddy with a healthy stream of urine, right down the front of his shirt.

"And that's why you NEVER pick up your child BEFORE you cover him or her with a diaper!" Catherine took Brae from Gil and finished diapering him as Gil took a wipe and tried to clean off his shirt. Everyone else in the room simply laughed harder.


	91. Chapter 91

"Okay Conrad let's hear your idea?" The babies had been fed, burped and changed then settled in their parents arms as the two of them sat side by side on the sofa in Gil's office. "Where on earth will you put us that a) no one knows about b) is safe for me, my husband and children 3) will keep the rest of our team safe as well d) allow us to find out who the hell is behind this?" Gil had to give her credit, she'd covered just about all the questions he had posed to the director before he'd come in the office.

"Well Sara, if your where abouts are kept to only the people in this room right now it makes it a little safer but" Ecklie knew the next statement would hurt several of the teams feelings but he hoped they'd hear him out before they jumped down his throat. "If say, Brass and myself were the only two that knew exactly where you were...it would raise the odds in your favor to stay safe!" Gil immediately opened his mouth to say something but Conrad held up his hand to stop him.

"That's totally unfair Conrad!" Catherine interjected and the others nodded in total agreement. "Why would the odds increase with only the two of you having such knowledge?"

"They...who ever is running the show right now would have nothing to use against you!" He stood up. "Think about something Willows., just say...and I say God forbid it came down to is...but just say they grabbed your daughter and they gave you an option...give up Sara and Gil..." Catherine was shaking her head.

"I would never!" she was sure of that until Conrad posed the rest of the question.

"We kill your daughter, after we rape and brutalize her...but you turn over Gil and Sara you save her life...which one do you as a parent think you're going to choose?" The answer though hard to digest was obvious. A Mother would fight to the death for her child and if there was anything she could exchange to guarantee the safe return of her daughter, Catherine or any parent would give up one to save the other. Catherine put her head down when she realized that Conrad knew her so well.

"I'm sorry Gil...I never thought" the words caught in her throat. "I wouldn't want to be..."

Gil knew the next words should have said '_put in that position but Conrad's right, I'd have not choice but to give up one to save the other!_'' Gil did not hold this against her, nor did Sara who, holding her children, realized that she too would have to put their safety before all others.

"It's okay Catherine, we really do understand." Sara hugged Lexie tighter.

"What do I have to use against me?" Nick wanted to believe that he was stronger than that and perhaps was exempt against such bribery but Conrad knew where the next hit needed to land.

"Anyone that knows you Nick..." Conrad was uncomfortable bringing it up but had little choice "knows what happened when you were kidnapped" he paced the office. "Who's to say that they wouldn't threaten to return you to a box buried in God knows where?" Nick swallowed and turned his head. "We bury you alive or...you give up the Grissom's, which is it going to be Nick?" Conrad saw the internal struggle "Or they decide to use Mandy against you" they didn't think he knew but he did., he'd become that much more observant after finding out that for two solid years Gil and Sara had been an inseparable item. Not much got passed him now. "It's okay Stokes, hasn't interfered with either of your work!" he patted the shoulder of the younger man and sat back down.

"Well I for one wouldn't sell out my friends!" Warrick stood up highly insulted that Conrad thought that to begin with. Ecklie turned around on him after hearing the tone in his voice.

"Really Brown?" he took a step toward Warrick "We have Catherine Willows and her daughter" he saw Warrick's glance shoot to Catherine then Gil. "We're gonna have lots of fun with these two beauties...aren't we boys?" his mocked tone sounded like a gangster movie and any other time it might have gotten a laugh or two. "Give up Gil and you save two lives..." he was toe to toe with Warrick Brown and within a moment, truth came to light, he would have to give up something to save the other and Conrad confirmed his suspicion that Brown carried a torch for Willows. "You all have something they can use against you!" he turned then sat back down.

"What about you Conrad, you have a wife?" Catherine stood up. Ecklie nodded.

"I do but...when I took this job, she and I understood the inherent risks that it might entail." he spoke softly and honestly. Catherine shook her head belligerently.

"You are not going to tell me that given the opportunity to save your wife, you would not sell out Gil or Sara!" she put her finger up to emphasize her point. "No way, you and she have been together so long it's like watching your clone!" she was about to say more then with downcast eyes "I'm sorry Ecklie, you have a lovely wife, honestly but..." She moved up to him "We all as you've pointed out all have something or someone that can be used against us..." she sat back down.

"Except me!" Jim Brass came foreword. "So in fairness to all of you, I volunteer to be the only one that knows where Sara and Gil go!" he waited for the fight he was sure to come.

"You have a daughter Jim!" Warrick reminded him but Jim shook his head.

"Anyone that knows me knows that I'm not about to sell out my friends for Ellie" he held up his hand as he heard Sara gasp. "She's not ...she's not my daughter by blood" he shrugged his shoulders, craned his neck from side to side to loosen the tense muscles. "My ex decided she's spent one to many lonely nights when I was out doing my civic duty... let's just say that she could be the mailman's kid for all I know!" he was not sure how much to tell but figured that the only way they'd agree was if they all knew the truth. As painful as that could be. "I wasn't the greatest husband in the world...I put my job before all else" his eyes fell on Sara and Gil who looked at Sara and then reached out his free hand to take hers. "I tried to be a pretty good Dad but apparently, from what Ellie's told me on the few times I've had contact with her...I failed at that as well." he sat against the desk and crossed his arms. "So, that being said...I will be responsible for my friends safety and keeping the rest of my friends from harm!" he let them know just with body language that he was done speaking.

Conrad sat back. "Seems whoever is pulling strings want to play divide and conquer" he sat back waiting for the others to catch up.

"What do you mean?" Catherine was the first to take the bait.

"Consider the last discussion...we all have something or someone to lose and we're all pointing fingers about who will be the first to sell out Gil and Sara yet neither of you have said anything" he turned to Gil and Sara sitting side by side. Gil looked at Sara, interlaced their fingers and turned to the group after a brief nod.

"Look, whichever of is the true target, we're not willing to put our friends and their families in the line of fire. That being said, Sara needs to be checked out at the hospital along with the kids and I'm asking both you Conrad and Brass to handle any safety issues up to and including the time we leave the hospital." he knew the next part was going to be met with stunned reactions and adamant refusal. "After we're done at the hospital, Sara and I will leave but we're not endangering anyone, we'll handle our leaving ourselves." Brass immediately stood up to say something and from the looks of things, he was ready to explode. "I'm not going to live with the guilt of anything happening to any one of you and neither is Sara" she nodded in agreement. We'll need help, we'll need a guaranteed diversion to get out without being detected, then you can call in Culpepper or whomever you damned well please and concentrate on solving this case."

Brass did not like this one bit. He had no qualms about laying his life on the line to protect his surrogate daughter and his best friend but he'd be damned if he'd do it sitting behind a desk. "Gilbert and Sara Grissom, are you out of your fucking minds!" he voice boomed he startled the babies who both began to cry.

"Gee thanks Brass!" Sara shot him a look. "You want to get them back to sleep?" she'd meant it to admonish him but instead, he took it for an invitation to hold the babies and moved forward.

"As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind at all!" he took both babies, one in each arm and walked around the room talking to them. "Have I ever told you what an asshole your father is? No? Well, when you're both a little older and if the old son of a bitch is still around..." he shot Gil a warning glance. "Then be sure to ask Uncle Brass about Mommy the pigheaded and Daddy the Asshole and I'm sure we can spend an entire day sitting around shooting the breeze while I fill you in!" he moved around the room with a grace that belied his size.

"Enough Brass!" Sara tried to stand up, her legs sore from sitting so long. She was very unsteady and had to hold onto Gil who immediately took his place by her side, arm wrapped securely around her waist. "We're trying to keep someone from hurting people the people we love is that so difficult for you to comprehend?" She was visibly upset by the remark of calling her husband an asshole. "I hope to God you never have to make a life or death decision when your friend is laying on a table with only a small chance of surviving., let me tell you James Brass" she poked a finger against his chest. "You have no clue how difficult it was for that 'asshole' as you called him to have to weigh the options and take the chance that either the surgery saved you, cost you your life or left you a vegetable...so instead of calling MY Husband an asshole, perhaps you should take into account that the 'asshole' you're referring to saved your fucking life!"

Gil tightened his hold on her and shook his head. "Sara...he didn't mean it" he whispered to her. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at the man she adored.

"He had no right calling you an asshole Gilbert...no right what so ever.." and to Brass she turned. "If my husband is an asshole then so am I" she extended her arms. "And so are our children" she sobbed between statements. "So give them back!" she reached for Brae who was the closest and Brass looked stunned. He gently handed them back to Gil and Sara who immediately went and sat back on the sofa. "Gil, go get the truck, we'll go to the hospital ourselves and simply tell the doctor that while they are examining me, you'll stay with the babies and under no condition are either of them to be out of your sight!" he nodded, picked up his keys and left the office.


	92. Chapter 92

A/N: Some sadness is coming...and then the angst begins...be warned...

Gil loaded the kids in the car thanks to Catherine's gift or two baby seats. He didn't know what had possessed him to put them in the car when they opened them, maybe it was a desire to get used to seeing them there or simply the need to reaffirm the fact that life had been kind to bless him not only with a wife that adored him but the impending birth of two children that were creations of a love slowly realized. Either way he was thankful that he had them in the car and had chosen to drive the Mercedes instead of the Denali today.

Catherine had helped Sara get down to the parking garage. She'd insisted that walking would be fine as long as she took her time and Catherine was not about to go against them after the last outburst with Brass. "One step at a time Sara, if you feel tired, if you feel pain I want you to tell me and we'll get you down there some other way." she was trying and Sara took it for what it was worth but part of her wanted to shout to leave her alone and let her get on with what now had to be done.

"Thanks Cath, I think I can make it if I take it slowly" She took the proffered hand and walked step by step with her coworker. They finally made it downstairs and she settled into the car checking over the seat that the babies were bundled and strapped in properly. "Catherine, thank you for everything. We meant what we said, we only want all of you to be safe and unfortunately, this is the only way." She reached up and hugged the only person who had been like a sister to her. "I'll miss you!" she pulled a tissue from her pocket and moved into the vehicle so Cath could close the door.

"If you need anything...you don't hesitate to contact me you hear me?" she stood up and walked around the car and embraced her best friend. "You take care of yourself Gil and your family!" she hugged him tightly trying to avoid letting him see the tears streaming down her face. She quickly turned away as she saw Brass approach.

"Listen Gil..." he had his hands tucked in his pockets. "I ... what I said earlier...I..." he couldn't find the words to tell Gil how deeply sorry he was for the comments but Gil understood without needing explanation or clarification.

"Forget it Brass, water under the bridge...just watch their backs okay?" he motioned to the team that stood waiting for their turn to say goodbye.

"I always have...just wish you'd let me watch yours." he scuffed his shoes along the asphalt. "Won't get any rest worrying about you, Sara and the kids ya know...I could take a leave...come with you..." he would do anything including taking a bullet for this family. Gil shook his head and looked up at his best friend.

"Best thing you can do is solve this so we can get back to normal okay?" Brass nodded then moved aside knowing that any public display of affection would not be welcome. Nick moved up not caring what anyone thought. he wrapped his arms around Gil and wished him well.

"Stop hugging me Nick...I'm coming back!" he smiled letting the younger man know he was not offended. "I think Sara could use a hug right now!" he motioned to his wife sitting there dabbing at tears. Sophia and Warrick moved up to wish them well.

"You need anything you call me on this phone!" she handed him a brand new cellphone. "Can't be traced so if you need anything or you just want to keep in touch, use it Gil!" she closed her hand over his then leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Take care of your family!" she backed away to talk to Sara.

"I know we haven't always gotten along Sara, but I'm happy that if anyone got Gil, it was the one that took his heart years ago. Stay safe and keep those precious babies safe to." she patted her arm. Sara reached out and touched her hand.

"Thanks Sophia., keep an eye on the guys please?" she couldn't help feeling that even when they were gone, the team was still in imminent danger. Sophia felt the same way but didn't give voice to her concerns.

Greg was the last to say goodbye after Mandy and Wendy. "I'm gonna miss ya Sara, I already do." he stated the case plain and simple. "If you need anything we're only a phone call away...I know we can't call you but...don't forget us huh?" he leaned in and hugged her. Everyone could see how hard he was taking this by the sobs that racked his body. "Feels like I just...we just got you back and some fucking bastard is driving you away only this time...it's all of you." he glanced at the babies in the back seat. "I better let you get out of here!" he kissed her cheek and backed away. Gil said his own goodbyes and finally got into the vehicle along side Sara. Reaching across the console he picked up her hand in his.

"We will be back Sweetheart" he kissed her knuckles. "I promise you we will be back!" he waved then pulled out of the parking spot with his name on it. Waving one last time the car slowly pulled out of the parking garage and headed toward Dessert Palm where Conrad had several unmarked squads following them and waiting for them to check in with the kids. Al had phoned ahead to a friend in Obstetrics, explained the situation and asked that he contact Sara's own OB doctor so they could get a swift bill of health and be on their way.

"Al, this is highly unethical you know?" Dr. Helms told him while jotting down notes. "Why the hurry?"

"Matter of life and death Ray, I need you to check out Sara and the babies, do whatever is needed and they need to get the hell out of there...and no matter what, you never saw them okay?" Ray had been friends with Al Robbins long enough to know that the man never asked for favors so for him to be doing this had to be something important and he vowed to help his friend out. He waited in his office until his nurse told him that the family he as seeing had arrived.

He apologized to Sara for not being able to bring her own OB in on the case and promised that when he got the all clear he would share the news of the twins birth. He examined her thoroughly, gave her a clean bill of health wishing only that she could stay off her feet for the next 24 – 48 hours but not asking questions. The babies were healthy for being 3 weeks early, Braedon weighed in at a healthy 6lbs 7oz and was 19 1/2 inches long, his sister was 5lbs 4oz and 18 inches long. "They're beautiful and you did well, if there's any questions you have feel free to ask away."

"Well they've both nursed several times and a friend of mine told me it will take a day or two for my milk to come down completely?" He nodded. "What do I do for the soreness?" He told her about warm showers and that the heat would cause the breasts to leak excess milk and relieve it somewhat. He explained how she should clean the nipples and that they could become sore or cracked and how to handle that.

"Is their bowel movements right Doc?" Gil interjected. "I mean...it seemed kinda grainy but this being my first experience..." he felt comfortable that Al had found a colleague to help them out. The doctor told him that nursing babies movements differed slightly from formula fed babies. He told Sara that so far the babies looked quite healthy but due in part that he couldn't comfortably keep them in the hospital, they'd have to watch for any signs of Bilirubin issues and jaundice.

"Any signs of the babies looking yellowish, you have to contact me immediately and we'll have to treat them with a Bilirubin blanket and lights." Sara looked panicked. "Ma'am, if there's anything wrong you'll know, trust me and you can contact me day or night...I owe Al that much." He shook their hands signed the necessary birth certificates and led them to the door. "I don't know the situation but please, take care of yourselves, you're all pretty damned special to Al!" And with that the family was once again on their way.

28 miles from Vegas they met up with a friend of Conrad's who was waiting at a garage with a brand new SUV complete with baby items such as portable cribs, bottles and clothes for both Sara, Gil and the babies. "I was told you might need a few things...for awhile" Gil noticed the U-haul trailer connected to the back of the Explorer. The plates and the trailer are mine so no worry about them being traced, you've been monitored since you left and no tails. He handed his keys to Gil and took the ones to the Mercedes. This was Gil's baby and he promised that no harm would come to it. "It will be returned to your residence so that anyone looking for you won't get a clue." he shook hands with both of them and sent them on their way. "Best of luck to both of you." and with that he was gone.

They drove most the night stopping only when Sara needed a bathroom break, the babies needed to nurse or be changed. All in all, they were wonderful little travelers but Gil couldn't help worrying. Bruno had been left with Greg who for the past week had been taking him back and forth between his apartment and their home. He'd lived there when Sara had left and Gil hadn't wanted to spend much time in the empty house so having him there was nothing new to Greg, just a comfort that his friends would one day come back.

"Penny for your thoughts" Sara reached over and ran a finger down Gil's forearm. Gil worked his jaw before answering her.

"Just trying to set this all right in my head Honey!" she knew how difficult this was for him. Gil wasn't one to turn tail and run from a threat...maybe from an over zealous student with the hots for him, she chuckled to herself and Gil turned to see what she was laughing at. "What's so funny?" he tried to lighten the mood as they continued to drive East.

"Oh, just thinking about the first time I asked you to dinner." his face told her he thought she was referring to after the lab explosion but she quickly corrected him. "Not then!" she laughed, when I asked you for dinner after your second seminar" she cracked a smile for the first time in hours. "You looked like I asked you to take me right there on the demonstration table, deer in the headlight look!" she smiled.

"You took me by surprise Sara, I wasn't expecting to fall in love at first sight!" She blushed thinking that this was the first time he admitted that was when he fell madly in love with her but thinking harder she knew he had told her before, it was just so nice to hear it again. "Then you came up after all your Anthropology questions and I couldn't figure out if you were nervous or trying to wear me down." his own smile brought comfort to the moment.

"I guess I was trying to do both...did I succeed?" Gil nodded and reached for her hand.

"I fall in love with you every time I see you, when I wake up next to you, I'm more in love today then yesterday, and now with the wonderful gifts you brought to my life...God Sara, I never believed I was worth your love but you showed me I am, and my children, did I thank you for them today Sara, did I?" Sara simply smiled, brought his hand to her lips and kissed him.

"Gil...can we stop for the night, my back is killing me from everything.." she didn't want to complain but she'd been having abdominal pains for the past hour and she couldn't wait to take a shower and relax best they could.

"Let's find someplace clean." he teased her then turned into the parking lot of a Best Western Hotel.


	93. Chapter 93

A/N: Yeah...they're back to work., so I had to let Billy go, had him hostage for weeks but it was worth it, my writing bunny went beserk., Enjoy and remember thanks for all the wonderful and supportive reviews...and as you read remember everything isn't always what it seems.

To those worried about a possible character death somewhere in this story...it could happen, and I will tell you, the person or persons will go out heros...so they won't be forgotten...then, maybe I'll be generous and let them live...we'll have to see...(evil laugh) as I smash my Valentine flowers...hehehehehe!

Gil carried both babies into the hotel room, he'd specifically asked for a non-smoking suite on the second floor, end unit so he'd have a clear view of the entire parking lot. He became immediately concerned after having put the babies car seat carriers on the floor and checking to see how Sara was doing. She was pale in color and her eyes were closed as she rested her head against the back of the seat.

"Sara...Sar.." he reached out to touch her arm and felt the heat radiating from her body. "Sara wake up sweetheart!" he gently moved her legs out of the car and gathered her up in his arms. Carrying her up to the second floor his knees screamed with each step even though she was not heavy. He placed her on the bed, pulled down the blankets and then repositioned her so she would be warm and as comfortable as possible. She felt like she was burning up and Gil grew concerned but who could he call?

Settling the babies in best he could, he went into the bathroom with the ice bucket the room had supplied and grabbed several of the wash clothes hanging on the metal towel bar. Returning to Sara he sat on the edge of the bed and began applying cold compresses to her forehead and neck the after having removed some of her clothing, proceeded to wipe her down on all exposed areas of skin. Throughout the entire process, Sara had slipped in and out of consciousness. Gil waited then dug through the baby diaper bags and found a thermometer and thankfully it was the ear type so he carefully inserted it in her ear and waited the required 30 seconds as the wrapper stated. The reading of 103.5 had him immediately on the cellphone to Catherine.

"Hey, did you miss us already?" Catherine answered not tipping anyone off who might be listening. Gil didn't give her much chance to say more.

"Cath, help me...please?" his voice sounded broken.

"What the hell Gil, what's going on...talk to me!" she held the phone tightly, hurried through the hall and locked herself in Gil's office since she knew for a fact it had been debugged. "Okay, spill what the hell is going on?"

"It's Sara, she said she didn't feel well as we drove, she didn't think I saw it but Cath, she was holding her stomach and kept kneading it whenever she thought I wasn't watching. She's running a fever of 103.5 thank God you put a thermometer in the babies stuff. I've been trying to get it down with cool rags, ice water but Cath...I'm scared!" it broke her heart to listen to a man who normally let nothing show suddenly turn more human than she'd have ever given him credit for.

"Where are you?" He gave her the address and she was surprised that he'd gotten as far as they had. "Where the hell were you heading? Never mind, I shouldn't have asked..." she knew the agreement they'd made in his office. "Let me make a phone call...and I'll call you right back okay?" Gil agreed wondering who she was calling but figured that Catherine was level headed in most situations and he knew if anyone would get them the help they needed, it would be her. He returned to Sara's side and again applied cool rags to the places he'd had them before.

"Gil..." she breathed out slowly. "Where...what's...I don't feel good." she clenched a hand to her stomach..."Gonna be sick..." he quickly pulled the ice bucket up under her chin as she vomited. "Sorry...I'm sorry..." she wiped at her chin and Gil put the bucket down then gently wiped off her hand and then used a clean damp cloth to wipe off her mouth as well.

"Don't be...I just wish you would have told me you were in pain Sara!" he stated the point, no accusation in his voice, only concern.

"You...you knew...how? How did you know?" she looked up, her eyes filled with pain.

"I don't miss much Sara Jayne Grissom!" he winked then picked up the thermometer again...with a little relief the temp had gone down slightly to 103.2 but was still to high for his liking. "I called Catherine!" he wanted her to know. "I...I was scared Sara...when I couldn't wake you up..." she looked around confused.

"You carried me?" He smiled and nodded. "Ohhh God Gil your knees are going to be killing you tomorrow...where exactly are we?" she looked around again knowing they were in some hotel.

"Best Western" He didn't tell her how far they'd driven and she wasn't concerned as long as they were together. As he sat beside her the phone rang..."Hello Catherine" he smiled then stood up, Sara reached out and took his hand keeping him in close proximity to her.

"Gil, I managed to contact a friend of mine who knows a doctor...he'll be there shortly, your at the Best Western on ... which room?" She continued, "I told him to call me when he examines Sara."

"Room 207...yeah, that's the one...you did?"

"Someone owed me a favor..." She chuckled. "I told his nurse the symptoms and that you were my brother...she made a quick phone call and he should be there within the hour." she tapped a pen in the background and Gil knew immediately that Catherine was as nervous as he was. "How's Sara?"

"She's awake, her temp went down slightly but it's still to high." he looked at her and wiggled his fingers as she held his hand making her smile.

"How's the pain?" Catherine was a wonderful friend.

"Cath wants to know how the pain is?" Sara made a face at him and reached out for the phone knowing it would be easier to answer her own questions...and sure that Cath would have at least a dozen."

"Scale of one to ten, it's about a four now, earlier it was..." she looked up seeing Gil staring at her. "It was...about a seven!" she saw her husband's mouth open and shut immediately.

"And you didn't tell Gil? Sara you just gave birth to two babies...you can't hide something like that from him...how are the babies?" She heard Sara gasp and wondered if she was experiencing pain. "Sara are you okay?" She heard Sara cover the phone and say something to Gil and caught the gist of it.

"Oh God Cath, I didn't even ask Gil about the babies...I'm sorry...I'm sorry that we had to bother you...Gil" she looked up at her husband who carried in both babies in their car seats. "I'm sorry, I know I need...they probably need to be changed or fed?" Gil shook his head about the changing.

"Already changed...both of them but they'll probably start fussing shortly for a meal...do you feel up to it?" he was concerned about her fever and if it was even healthy for her or the babies to be nursing. "Ask Catherine if you should nurse until we know what's going on?" Sara relayed his concern and Catherine felt that she should hold off until she spoke to the doctor.

"What do I do if he puts me on antibiotics Cath?" She had enjoyed the close bonding she felt with the children during the times they'd nursed and hoped that she wouldn't have to switch them to formula and bottles.

"Well, he knows you just gave birth and are nursing so we'll just have to wait and see...it's going to be okay sweetie." Catherine used her softest tone with the younger woman. "Just tell him EVERYTHING Sara and don't leave anything out thinking you're sparing Gil any concerns." Sara agreed, sent a soft kiss through the phone and handed it back to Gil.

"Gil, let me know what happens, if you need anything don't hesitate okay?" she already knew he wouldn't with the situation they were now in.

"Cath, thanks again...for everything.

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Greg was bound and determined to bring Sara and Gil back, to protect his surrogate niece and nephew at all costs and to get the drooling dog out of his apartment just as soon as everything was settled. Against better judgment, he'd decided to take home the case file that Sara and Gil had been working on. Something or someone had to be connected to someone in the department that they'd risk threatening the top CSI in the country using threats of violence against his wife and kids. Archie had come over to cram thoughts with him once he realized that Greg knew what he was working on.

"I wasn't in the lab as eye candy Arch, and believe it or not, I still know everything going on there from day to day!" he didn't tell him how, no need to elaborate on the fact he kept tabs on everyone due in sense to a feeling of loyalty to what used to be his sole domain.

They sat at his table with beers in hand and spread out the paperwork.

"What do we know?" Archie sipped at the beer then placed the bottle on the table and pulled over a pen and paper.

"We know that this started with Jeffrey Clayton, victim #1, although he was married, he may have been carrying on an affair with Polly Harwood who eventually turned out to be victim #2. I was reading her background information and luckily, she had quite an extensive medical background at Dessert Palms Hospital..did you know that the HIPPA privacy act is null and void upon a patients death?" So, last night I picked up her medical records on my way home and guess what? She apparently had not one but to abortions which just happened to coincide after visits where Jeff Clayton was in town...now call me suspicious but from what I read, Jeffrey was married to a girl named Annie and reading over the case notes, Polly seemed very concerned that she be alerted to Jeff's death.

"How are her and this Catalina Geraci connected?" Archie was reading ahead. "It says here that she was killed in a hit and run accident!" he flipped the notes but found little on her autopsy, simply that she'd died instantly from massive internal injuries. "Police report stated that the driver had to be doing a minimum of 65 to 70 to cause the amount of damage that was done to her car." Archie skimmed Gil's report on the accident. "Acceleration point goes from stand still to impact and from eyewitness reports, the car that hit her was nondescript, they heard a gunning engine and then the impact..at an intersection, my guess is she was targeted." Archie was seriously contemplating a move from the lab much like Greg had made and was enthralled whenever he was allowed to get involved.

"We know that the center of this investigation has to do with a landing program from what I can tell." he pointed out the notes he had highlighted. Clayton was supposedly the designer of the program!"

"Arron's designs were written well before Clayton brought his to the table!" Greg had been doing some digging through some of the emails he'd sent to his friend Amber Winfred, telling her about how he'd come up with some new landing programs after the incident with the tower. Read this:

_Amber: To say I'm dancing on air doesn't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am to finally be noticed! Sent program to swi and got a wonderful response from Mr. McPherson...scheduled for meeting on Thursday...keep you fingers crossed, I might get to take you to Italy after all...A/M/L A_

"McPherson is the President of SWI, Southwest International" Something in the chart had earlier caught Greg's eye and at first he didn't think much about it...but doing a background search into McPherson, it came up that his wife's maiden name was Colleen Formansky.., flipping through page after page., Greg finally found what he was looking for and hoped that with a little more digging his suspicions might bear fruit.


	94. Chapter 94

The doctor arrived as promised and brought along his nurse. "Dr. Epstien and this is my nurse Carol Hunnicut." he waited patiently as introductions were made. Gil led them into their hotel room and the doctor immediately attended to Sara.

"Hi, I'm a friend of Catherine's" He felt it might relaxed the young woman before him. "I understand congratulations are in order for both of you" he looked up as Gil neared the bed "But I'm a little confused as to why the hospital discharged you and the babies...I mean, they're healthy weight from what Cat told me but I understand that you, Mom are having some pain?" Sara looked first at Gil who had his arms crossed in front of him and slowly nodded.

"Yes, I feel like my insides are being torn out...okay?" she looked up at Gil who's eyes widened with shock.

"Scale of 1 to..."

"10 okay, it's a fucking 10..." she grabbed at her stomach as another sharp tearing pain rendered her speechless for the moment then leaned over the pillow she was clutching to her abdomen. "I'm sorry Gil...I should have told you...okay?" she started to sob knowing that once again, she probably disappointed him by feeling she could not confide in him. Gil got up and walked to the other side of the room leaning against the cool pain of glass on the front window.

"I'm going to need to examine you if that's okay?" Sara nodded slowly, tears streaming down her face as the doctor gently started to move the blankets to get her comfortable. When he lifted up the top cover and spread, his eyes widened in terror at the amount of blood covering her lap and the bed around her. "Hunnicut, dial 911 now!" Gil's head shot up and he turned around looking first at the doctor as if he'd lost his mind and then at the pool of crimson wetness surrounding his wife..

"Jesus Sara..." he ran over but froze, unable to move from the spot next to the bed as the nurse picked up the phone and began giving directions to the operator on the other end. "How old are you honey?" she tried to remain calm figuring that both Sara and Gil looked petrified enough.

"35" Sara muttered as doctor helped to lay her flat then put pillows under her knees and gently tried to see if he could figure out where the bleeding was coming from. He removed packing material from his case and went about trying to staunch the flow.

"Did you have anything unusual occur during the birth?" The nurse was trying to fill in the operator while assisting the doctor.

"Besides having them..." she grunted between pains. "the babies...arggggggggggggggg" she knew it was now use now hiding her pain and discomfort as she'd been doing the past hours. "in my husbands...Jesus...christ this hurts... office?" she looked at the nurse who relayed further information and asked them to hurry.

"Was there any unusual bleeding honey?" The doctor gently prodded as he packed the gauze against her vagina. Sara nodded.

"But I passed out for a little while you'd have to talk to either Gil or the doctor that delivered the twins." she was breathing heavily now trying to control her emotions.

"Wait, a doctor delivered the babies in the office and allowed you to take a car trip...?" Gil sat gingerly on the side of the bed and held up a hand.

"There are some very unusual circumstances that you are unaware of doctor and it would be better if that situation stays that way for everyone involved. I'm sure Catherine told you that having you come here wasn't quite...standard office policy?" The doctor nodded as he continued working on Sara. "I know this highly unusual and you're probably thinking that I lost my mind letting my wife avoid being in the hospital but I can assure you, it wasn't my intention to cause my wife ..." he was at a loss to explain to the doctor.

"It was for our safety" Sara looked up, tears in her eyes. "It was a mutual decision to keep myself, my husband and our children alive...that being said..." she curled again and the doctor instructed her to relax and try to breath through the pain "I can't very well waltz into a hospital with my given name and protect us...so you do..." she groaned again "whatever you have to do to treat me and we'll be on our way!" she was clearly frustrated right now and the doctor looked up at his nurse.

"Sara, you don't seem to understand, you could be hemorrhaging right now...this is an awful lot of blood to have lost..." He saw the determined set of her jaw.

"Then you're going to have to figure something out doctor because the safety of my family comes first and foremost before me!' She was about to continue when she heard a grunt from her husband.

"God dammit Sara, you're going to the fucking hospital, I don't care if I have to call in every fucking favor that's owed to me so help me God Sara, if I have to carry you in the emergency room myself you are going!" She'd never in all the years she'd known him heard him address her like this and it scared her into silence. "Are you clear?" Sara started to cry and Gil felt like the world's biggest heel but he knew that once again, she was putting his and the children's safety before herself and he just couldn't have it.

Meanwhile the nurse had taken the time to examine both babies and found them to be in perfect health, clean and snuggled in their car seats. "You have two exquisite children Sara they're adorable...what are their names?" she tried to lighten the mood in the room as Gil glared at his wife and she tried to avoid his stare.

"My ... son, my son is Braedon...Braedon Cameron...but we call him Brae...and our daugth...daughter is Alexis Rose...or..." she sobbed and wiped at her nose not the least bit concerned how she might look "Lexie...we call her Lexie..."she dabbed at her eyes again.

"Well they're positively beautiful and look very healthy!" she assured her after jotting down their measurements. "Are they on formula or nursing?"

"They're nursing...they...Brae took to it immediately..." she smiled "Lexie took a few attempts...they should be due for a feeding I'm guessing but since I wasn't sure what was wrong...I...Catherine said to wait till you got here..." As if on cue, Braedon decided to let his demands be known and started fidgeting in his seat before he let everyone know he was hungry. "What should I do?"

"You're running a fever but since you've already nursed them several times...I don't think it would hurt...unless you're not up to it?" Sara shook her head happy to not only be able to hold her child again but to relieve some of the pressure in her growing breasts. Gil reached down and unbuckled Brae then gently handed him to Sara who positioned him on the pillow near her belly and helped him latch on...he sucked greedily and settled immediately.

"He's got a healthy appetite!" the Doctor admired as they heard the distant wailing of a siren coming their way. Sara's eyes were wide with fear as she looked up at Gil.

"Don't..." he held up his hand "You're going and there is no room for discussion..." she was glad that Brae finished before the paramedics came up. She handed him back to Gil who just had time to get him changed before he saw the two men taking her vitals and calling into the nearest hospital. As he settled him into his car seat after burping him., Brae simply looked around compared to his sister who was out like a light, thankfully she'd stay that way until they got to the hospital.

Gil wanted to go in the ambulance with Sara but knew the impracticality of it with two babies, two car seats and such. Nurse Hunnicut volunteered to ride with him, the doctor agreed to ride with Sara and Gil promised him that he'd get him back to his car. He loaded the twins with the Nurse' help and stayed glued to the back of the ambulance as they road through the night. The doctor had instructed them to run without their siren. "No sense alerting anyone to what's going on., I think the ambulances arrival was enough." he patted Gil before they walked out of their hotel room. "Just so you know, the hospital will want to check on the babies as well."

"They're not leaving my sight doctor!" Gil carried a child seat in each hand as they descended the stairs and made their way through the parking lot.

"I can assure you Gil that they'll be quite safe at the hospital, they'll go to the nursery..." but Gil was shaking his head.

"They'll stay with me, it's bad enough that Sara may need medical intervention but my children will be staying with me the entire time!" he loaded them, turned to the doctor and saw Sara in the back or the rig hooked once again to monitors and oxygen. "You don't want to piss her off do you?" he figured the Doctor would get an earful and Sara would certainly refuse any further medical intervention if she knew he was thinking of taking the babies off somewhere.

"Okay...but..." he figured it was better to simply shut up and move on. "We'll see you at the hospital!" he walked into the rig and the attendant closed the door behind him. Gil was behind them the entire time. When they arrived at the hospital., the doctor thankfully informed registration that circumstances did not allow them to give any information at this time and Gil was grateful that they didn't press the issue as the entire team walked into one of the emergency bays. "I'll handle any ... questions in due time!" he assured Gil then went about getting Sara settled on a gurney and allowing the ambulance to get back to work.

"Doc, how do you want us to record this call?" The older of the two men looked at the doctor who was a friend of his outside of the hospital.

"Put down patient refused to be seen..." he jotted his initials next to the report so that the paramedic wouldn't have to answer questions later on.

"Thanks Doc...we still on for Friday night poker?" he teased as they reloaded the things they'd used on Sara. There would be no trail that she ever came in on their bus and when the doctor was finished, no matter the outcome, it would never be learned that she was ever in this hospital. There was something going on for Catherine to have called in favors to the doctor who used to take care of her father Sam...

The Dr. Epstein called in his friend who was an OB/Gyn specialist and together they examined Sara. "She's got a tear in her uterine wall" he presented his findings to his coworker. "I would recommend we take her up to surgery, do a flush and stitch her up, she'll need to be put on a round of antibiotic and by any rate, should be out of the hospital in a week at most..." he was going to say more but Epstein shook his head.

"Needs to be an outpatient procedure Dan" he hadn't relinquished the chart he had on Sara, his intention was to make it look as official as possible and then, upon her release, return all information gathered back to her and her husband.

"Outpatient? Are you fucking nuts man?...That woman is surely in a massive amount of pain, we haven't even checked out her children..."

Paul shook his head. "I did all the preliminary workup on the way here...and they're fine, eating well...normal temps, good healthy weight for twins and I'm comfortable that the parents are doing just fine baring any further complications." he jotted notes to look like he was having an ordinary consultation with his friend. "Do this for me okay?" his friend owed him...but Paul wasn't one to say so, he just knew that Dan would do as asked, he always had.

"Fine, not comfortable with this...but let me see how surgery goes...I'll put her under..." Paul shook his head..."No...there is no fucking way I'm doing a local on her...I put her under and get this done quick as I can but I'm not doing it under local...if you think I am...get someone else!" he threw his hands in the air as he turned to see Sara staring at him. "Please tell Dr. Epstein you want to be knocked out?" he pleaded with Sara who eyed both men. Gil arrived with both babies and had to hand Alexis to her because she was now insisting on having her share of dinner.

"Can I nurse after you put me out?" Dan thought about it.

"Well, it's not really recommended till we know everything is out of your system but..." Sara shook her head.

"Local...if I can still nurse my babies with a local...then you have to do a local, I am not ...I like being able to nurse my children." he watched at the baby girl latched on and settled in for some very healthy sucking. Her little cheeks worked as her lips grasped around her Mom's nipple. Sara looked more relaxed staring at her child as Gil held their son in his strong hands.

"Fine but I have to tell you, the local will hurt like hell!" he dropped the chart he was carrying. "Let me go get the damned OR ready...or do you want me to do it on the back of her bumper?" everyone in the room chuckled and Gil thanked Paul for helping them out.

"Catherine is a force to be reckoned with!" Paul emphasized why he was willing to do all of this. "Sam might not have raised her but she's every inch a Braun!" he figured there was little harm in letting Sara and Gil know that he'd had dealings with Sam in the past. "Damned shame they only got back together...and Sam with his ex only to get gunned down..." he walked away following Dan to make sure everything was ready.

"Gil..." Sara looked up wondering just how mad he might be at her having avoided telling him just how much pain she really was in. "About all of this..." she looked around as Lexie tugged at her breast. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you...I know I should...'

"Yes Sara, you should have!" He turned, Brae tucked into his arm and looked out the window, not so much to avoid her but to avoid having her see the tears that streamed down his face. "You promised not to keep anything from me..."

"I know..." her voice was a whisper. "I know I promised..."

"Yes you did and you could have bled to death right under my nose!" he was angry at her for that, seeing it as an act of selfishness on her part. Not for keeping it from her but using the children as an excuse but he felt it would gain him nothing to elaborate on it. "You would have left me again and you promised never...you said you would..." he couldn't contain the sob anymore..."You told me you wouldn't leave me again...you could have...you would have left these two children...me..." he sat down on the chair by her bedside but would not look at her.

"I'm sorry Gilbert...for so much..." she reached out to touch his face but still his eyes stayed downcast. "I'm going into surgery Gil, do you want me to lay there wondering how much I've damaged our relationship further?" she knew she'd hit the mark when he looked up suddenly.

"No, I want you to lay there and think about the life ahead of us when all of this is said and done!" he looked at her and she saw so much emotion in his eyes. Where once they would remain cold and distant, since they'd been together and especially since the incident in the desert, he'd become less difficult to read and while it bothered him to now end., Sara used it to her advantage.

All to soon, they nurses came to collect her for the procedure. Gil leaned down and kissed her after gathering Lexie. "She'll need to be changed."

"I'll take care of it!" he assured her not wanting to let her hand go.

"If anything happens..." he silenced her with a kiss.

"Nothing is going to happen., come back to me Sara... Come back to me and the kids.." he kissed her once more and watched as she was slowly wheeled away toward the OR.


	95. Chapter 95

A/N: Don't say I didn't warn you as my ANGST Bunny was running rampant tonight! HEHEHEHE!!!!!

Gil sat nervously holding Lexie who had not fallen asleep when she'd finished nursing. He was on pins and needles waiting to hear how Sara was doing with surgery, trying to comfort a baby that was now squalling like her world was ending. He shifted her from one arm to the next, opened her diaper for the third time and found absolutely nothing that should be making her cry. He put her over his shoulder and patted her back thinking perhaps it was a case of colic like he'd read in one of the dozen baby books he'd secretly devoured when he couldn't sleep. He'd been one that wanted to be prepared for his kids even though their impromptu birth had taken them by surprise.

The nurse came in asking if everything was okay since he didn't seem capable of comforting his child.

"I've checked her diaper, she ate before my wife went into surgery and she's belched and had a bowel movement already...I just don't seem to be what she wants right now." he looked absolutely flustered and the nurse offered to take Lexie from him. Gil thanked her for the generous offer but right now, she was one of two things that kept a tangible hold on his life with Sara. "My wife, she went to surgery about an hour ago...could you please find out if she's in recovery yet?" The young woman smiled and excused herself. Gil was a nervous wreck and close to calling Catherine or Jim.

It seemed like forever before she returned and when she came in, she closed the door behind her. Gil felt the room spin around him. "I'm sorry sir...but there was some complications when the doctors were operating..." she reached him before he accidentally dropped Lexie and gathered the infant in her arms. "Sir? Sir are you okay...? Sir?" she saw him waiver and nearly drop to the floor but catch himself on the edge of the counter... Not knowing what else to do she pressed the buzzer that summoned another of the floor nurses.

"What is it Tracy?" The older woman noticed Tracy holding the infant and the man barely clinging to the counter. "Sir are you okay?" Gil tried to take in a breath but couldn't seem to fill his lungs with air.

"Comp...compl...complicat...ions...what complications?" he managed to squeak out before he had to steady himself yet again. The older nurse, Julie reached out to steady Gil while pulling a chair and pushing it under him before gently menuvering him into it. Tracy shifted the baby to her other arm and tried to get the situation under control.

"His wife is in surgery, apparently there was complications, she" she looked at Julie and then at the distraught man before her. "I'm sorry she didn't make it..." Gil felt as if the earth had opened up beneath him and he was teetering heavily on the edge of some dark tunnel. "She had a good life Sir, I'm sure..." Gil looked up at her totally confused and then full of uncontrollable rage.

"How the fuck do you know anything about my wife?" his tone took Julie by surprise and she released the hold she hand on his arm. "She didn't have a good life, I tried to give her a good life...but everything was against us...why? Oh God Why?" his head fell forward into his hands and his body shook from the unleashed fury he felt filling his heart and soul. "I want to see my wife! Why didn't they., why didn't someone come and tell me...?" he was crying and Tracy backed away as Gil put his hands out for Lexie. Thankfully Brae slept through the entire incident unfolding in the room.

"Sir, let me take the baby with me...and I'll..."

"No dammit, give me back my daughter...isn't it enough that I've lost my wife...?" his eyes were swollen from tears as he stood up and reached for Lexie yet again.

"Sir, I don't think you're thinking rationally. Let me get something for you..." Tracy kept her distance and Julie weighed the option of leaving the man alone for a moment and finding someone that could give him the answers he sought against or telling Tracy to give the baby back. Thankfully she chose the latter and Tracy reluctantly handed Lexie to Gil.

"I'm sorry baby girl, I'm so sorry...Mommy...I know you want your Mommy..." he noticed Brae now staring at him but thankfully he had not started crying and Lexie seemed to calm again in his arms. "I'm so sorry my babies...what am I going to do...?" he sat back and snuggled his tear stained face against his daughter's stomach. "I know you want your Mommy...I want her too..." he heard his phone ring and thought about leaving it unanswered but realized that only Catherine or Jim would have been calling and they needed to know.

"Grissom" he answered without thinking that he'd just used his last name. Truth be told, at this very moment, he didn't really care.

"Gil it's Catherine, did Paul get there yet?" he realized that he hadn't called Catherine to update her on the initial situation.

"Yeah...Cath, he...he did...got there...and...Sara was bleeding...she didn't tell me Cath, she never told me, Doctor Epstein found it when he uncovered her...there was blood everywhere Cath...the hotel is going to think there was a murder there..." he wished he could find humor in the thought of the maid trying to clean up the mess or calling the police.

"Gil are you okay? You don't sound good...what the hell is going on..?" Catherine was pacing inside his office, Jim sitting on the edge of the desk trying to overhear what his friend was saying.

"She was taken to surgery...the nurse just came in...oh God Cath she didn't make it...they said there were some ... comp...complications...Cath, what am I going to do?" he collapsed in the chair with Lexie curled to his chest. Catherine grew silent on the other end and was too stunned to say anything but hand the phone to Jim.

"Gil it's Jim...what the hell is going on?" he was watching the blond in front of him fall to the ground in tears as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. "Catherine!" he shrieked at the unfamiliar sight before him. "Gil talk to me!" he shouted.

"Sara's dead Jim...she was in surgery...Oh God Brass...my Sara...not my Sara" he sobbed as Julie returned to the room and offered to take Lexie from him. Gil was about to shake his head when he noticed that the baby had finally settled and was starting to doze off. Julie motioned that she merely intended to put he back in the baby seat and allow Gil some privacy. After doing just that, she backed out of the room just as Drs. Dan and Paul came down the corridor.

"You need to give him some time to digest this doctor" she put her hand out barring their entry into the room where they could hear sobbing.

"What's going on?" Dan looked genuinely confused.

"He's just lost his wife, and left with two little newborns...he'll need a minute to get himself together..he's talking to someone on the phone right now." Dan looked at Paul who shrugged as they noticed Tracy coming from around the desk.

"I'm sorry Dr. Dan...he asked me to find out about his wife...I couldn't hide it when I came back and heard the awful news" she wrung her hands nervously as the doctors scrutinized the young nurse before them. "I know it's normally the doctors who deliver the bad news..." she was starting to tear up "but I couldn't control my emotions enough and I guess he kind of knew..." she pulled out a tissue and looked innocently at Julie "You saw him yourself...what with two babies and now his wife dying..." Paul could not get the words out fast enough and apparently Dan could.

"You told Gil that his wife died?" he was beyond shocked.

"Yes, she was in surgery and there were complications...and..." before she could finish, Paul walked back down the hall to the surgical room, quickly slipped into a clean surgery gown and first check on Sara who was still dozing comfortably and then the surgery chart to find out who the nurse had confused her with. Upon realizing the mix up, he hurried from the room and down the hall.

"You idiot...you completely stupid woman...why the hell would you tell him that his wife died without checking who the hell you were talking to?" she backed away as the doctor stalked up to her toe to toe. "You told a man with two newborns his wife died., his wife is the 35 year old we were operating on" he motioned between himself and Paul. "The woman who passed away was a 48 year old woman in for cardiac surgery...how the hell could you possibly confuse that?" he was livid. Tracy, if she could have would have crawled into the nearest disposal chute if there had been one nearby.

"I...well he was older" she backed away. "I just assumed...!" she knew she'd said the wrong thing again.. "How the hell was I to know?" she just saw a man with gray hair and assumed the older of the two women in surgery would have been his spouse, it never occurred to her to check the type of surgery before opening her mouth.

"And that's precisely why we don't tell patients about results or outcomes Tracy., that is exactly why it is ALWAYS left up to the doctors or surgeons in charge of the case...!" with that they left the nurse to stand there in thought as they headed to the room where they knew Gil was waiting. The sight before them stole both their hearts.

Gil had both the babies in his arms, tears streaming down his face as he told them about what a wonderful woman their Mom had been, how brave she was, that she chased him for so many years while he ignored her even though he knew from the day they'd met that she was the only one for him.

"I never loved anyone as much as I loved your Mommy...and of course both of you" his voice cracked "and I promise that every day we have together we'll talk about her and you'll learn what an amazing and extraordinary woman she was...and you'll have Aunt Cath and Uncle Jim to help me and and there is Uncle Nicky and Warrick and Greg, they're going to come here and help me get you home...we have to take Mommy home..." he looked up surprised to see both doctors and the older nurse standing inside the door. Standing up unsteadily, and noticed quickly by Julie who rushed to his side to steady him., Doctor Paul started first.

"Gil...I understand you received some...news" he'd never had to tell a patient about such a huge fuck up and he was floundering. Dan stepped forward to help out.

"Gil, Sara wasn't the one that died!" he saw the look of shock on Gil's face. "There was a mix up and I'm terribly sorry...so very very sorry that.." Gil interrupted immediately.

"Wait? What? What did you just say about Sara?" he felt like he was going to lose his hold on the babies and Julie quickly gathered them up in her ample arms then gently laid both on the gurney where she decided to check if either needed changing while their Father was given back hope.

"The nurse that told you she died was mistaken, there was another woman in surgery, in the OR next to Sara...she was..." he was a tad embarrassed. "She was apparently closer in age...or so Tracy thought...well, she thought the other woman was you wife...I'm sorry, she had no right to give you that kind of information whether wrong or right...but anyway. Sara came through surgery just fine and she's resting..." Gil could barely take in his words.

"Sara's not dead?"

"No!"

"She's alive?"

"Yes., she's alive Gil and resting..." he reached out his hand to Gil and hooked it under his upper arm. "Why don't you just come with me...Julie will keep an eye on the babies." he didn't wait for Gil to agree simply pulled him forward and propelled him out of the room. When the three men entered the surgical ward, Dan stopped and pulled a gown from the pile of clean ones and quickly helped Gil into it., Gil's movements were slow and stilted as if he blinked or moved the wrong way, it would all disappear.

"Okay, you ready?" Paul took his arm and led him into the recovery room where Sara was sitting on an incline sucking on ice chips. Never had he been so happy to see her as now but apparently his appearance had her startled and chips of ice fell from her mouth.

"Gil...are you okay?" she reached out to him and he stumbled slightly as he moved toward her, supported on both sides by both doctors. "Gil...honey you're scaring me, is something wrong? Is there something wrong...with...where are the babies?" she looked past him...

"Sara relax, the babies are fine, they're in very capable hands and last time we saw them they were both napping...Gil on the other hand had quite a scare!" Dan figured it was better that he fill her in. "Apparently, in another surgical suite, a woman slightly older than yourself passed away during surgery" Gil had moved to her side and gently gathered her in his arms trying to avoid pulling on any wires or Iv's. "Gil was inadvertently told by a new nurse that it was you who had passed away." Sara looked stunned then up at her husband who looked like he had aged 10 years from when she'd seen him last.

"I thought I lost you Sara...I" he could say no more. Sara reached up her hand and cupping him behind his head brought his lips down to her own and kissed him passionately. When she was finished and they came up for air she smiled.

"Does that feel like I'm dead to you?" she winked. Gil shook his head and kissed her again. Paul and Dan decided to give them a few moment alone after all he'd been put through...


	96. Chapter 96

A/N: Here's some more for my loyal readers, thanks for all the support, we're going down the road to figuring some things out...and I'm going to have some participation from you the readers as to what you think is about to happen...and what you'd like to see happen... Thanks again for the awesome reviews...

Disclaimer: I could own them if I wanted..

Sara was being moved to a room where they planned on keeping her until later in the day. Gil had agreed to it with a slight argument from his wife but in the end, knowing how much he had suffered being told of her untimely demise and seeing for herself what it had done to him physically, she'd finally relented. Gil in his haste to make sure that his wife was indeed alive and now relishing in that fact had forgotten to call Catherine and Jim and bring them up to date on the change in status of his wife.

"The babies, can we have them in our room?" Gil had questioned Julie who had taken them to the nursery and thankfully not left their side until their father had shown up outside the window.

"If you think it would be more relaxing for Sara to have them, absolutely, we did bottle feed them a little while ago but I promise, it won't interfere with them being breast fed, I switched off with mine so my husband was able to help with the feedings." she went about chattering as she swaddled each baby then handed Brae to Gil and carried Lexie as they walked side by side. "I'll have a bassinet brought in but if I wheel out either of those" she indicated the plastic beds they'd been lying in "the alarms would go off since the babies don't have bracelets, would you be more comfortable if I make up two for the babies and one for each of you?" Gil thought that would be a good idea and she handed off the baby to take care of it.

He walked in, pushing the door open with his hip and never saw a more beautiful sight then the smile that covered her entire face. "You brought them back?" she was tired obviously but just having the babies nearby seemed to give her a little more energy. "Can I hold them?" she knew Gil was being ultra protective as he gently handed one to her. "I can hold both Gil, they barely weigh anything" she teased. Gil smiled and simply sat beside her as he put the second child in her arms. They sat there in silence enjoying some quiet time with themselves and their children. An hour later, they were both staring at each other as they heard raised voices and the mention of their last names.

"Oh shit!" Gil stood up making Brae start to cry, he'd been sleeping peacefully curled over his daddy's shoulder. "Oh sorry son...I'm sorry" he tried to rock Brae and at the same time headed out the door with Sara yelling behind him.

"Gil...Gilbert Grissom...GRISSOM!!!!!" in his haste, he forgot to tell Sara that Catherine and Jim now thought that she was dead and he was left at the hospital, a grieving husband with two newborn children. He wasn't coming back and apparently, the voices she heard was that of one very pissed off Jim Brass...

"I'm a Detective with the Las Vegas Police Department, show a little compassion for God sake, one of my co-worker's wife just passed away!" he was bright red with exertion, he'd driven like a bat out of hell to get to the hospital, Catherine in tow and both had endured dozens of phone calls from their co-workers in the lab when they'd heard about losing Sara..."How about a little ummmm..." he was about to tell the guard in the 'monkey suit' as he often times referred to security guards to show a little 'brotherly love' as they often considered them selves one step toward being an actual police officer but as he was just about to say it, he saw Gil coming around the corner with one of his babies in his arms.

"There he is..." he motioned to his friend and side stepped the officer who looked more confused then every.

"Gil...thank God, where's the other baby?" Catherine had moved up to him, opened her arms and had him ensconced in a deep hug. "You must be beside yourself...here let me take him." she noticed Brae's blue blanket.

"Lexie's with Sara.." he said it as naturally as can be not thinking what must be going through their heads.

"You left your daughter with your wife's body?" Catherine was stunned but realized that in his grief he probably wasn't thinking all that clearly. "Where? Which way...I need to see her..." Gil pointed in the direction and without thought gave the room number. Catherine was practically at a run as she headed down the hallway to find the poor infant that must be lost lying beside the cold body of her Mother.

"I'm coming Lexie...Aunt Catherine is coming" she rushed headlong down the corridor reading off the rooms until she came to 721 as he'd instructed. She put Brae over her shoulder and then pushed the door open only to stand there absolutely stunned! "Saaaaaaaaaaaaaara...oh my God!" she thought she'd lost her mind until the younger woman looked up and smiled.

"Thought I was dead did ya?" she smiled. "Guess Gil forgot something!" she shook her head. Catherine moved further into the room and tentatively reached out a hand till she brushed her fingers against Sara's arm. "Yup, I'm alive, in the flesh...the news of my untimely demise...greatly exaggerated!" she was trying to lighten the pallor of the room but Catherine stood there dumbfounded as to why Gil would have put them all through this...

"Shit..." Gil turned from Brass and with his bowlegged swagger hurried down the hall with Brass in tow. "Son of a Bitch..Catherine's going to kill me!" he didn't even think about his friend who, already out of breath from racing around the hospital not to mention driving in record time...was struggling to keep up wondering just where the hell Gil was running to.

"Slow down Grissom...for God sake I'm going to have a heart attack" he tried to catch his friend and his breath but was not succeeding in either race. "Dammit Gil...slow down!" he stopped, leaning heavily against the wall he pulled his tie loose and opened his jacket. "Where the hell is the fire...?" he almost yelled that with Sara being gone, where was the hurry but he held his tongue in check.

Thankfully he stopped at the door to Sara's room, turned around and realized that somewhere in his haste to spare Catherine, he'd lost Brass...torn between going into the room and figuring 'oh shit, she's probably figured it out by now anyhow...' he retraced his footsteps and found Jim sitting on the floor trying to breath...

"What the hell are you doing sitting on the floor?" he asked as if this was an every day occurrence. Jim looked up at him still trying to catch his breath.

"Try...ing...to...breath...!" he rasped out between jagged breaths. "Try...ing...to ... " he gulped air as Gil looked around, spotted a water fountain and filled a Styrofoam cup with it then handed it to his friend who drank greedily..."Keep up with you." he finally started to get his breathing back under control "I mean...no ..." he was still breathing heavily..."disrespect Gil...but where's the fire..?" it was the nicest way he knew to ask without bringing Sara's name into it...

Gil reached down and helped Jim to his feet. After pulling his tie loose and shoving it into his coat pocket, he finished the water, crumbled the cup and looked around for a wastebasket to toss it in. Gil figured by now, it was just easier to let Jim see for himself instead of having to explain twice and led his friend down the corridor toward Sara's room. He noticed Brass pause, straighten his shoulders and take a deep breath before they entered the room only to have the wind knocked out of him again at the sight before him. Sara was seated on the bed, Catherine was in the chair next to her and both women were chatting away as if this were just a casual visit.

"Someone care to tell me what the hell is going on?" his raised voice had Sara and Catherine look up startled by the tone.

"Shhhhhh you'll wake the babies!" they both admonished then Sara smiled at Jim.

"Hello Jim Brass" she looked at a very astonished Jim who then looked at Catherine who was smiling at Gil as she was holding one of the two babies. "Yeah, I'm not as dead as you'd heard!" she was trying to sound lighthearted knowing that if he reacted anything like Catherine, tears were about to follow.

Jim wasn't known for dramatics but the three strides he took toward Sara before enveloping her in a gentle bear hug before burying his face in her shoulder was a sure indication of how much she was loved. The sobs that racked the older man's body made even Catherine tear up again.

"I was told...Cookie..." he sobbed again "Gil said...you were..." he couldn't bring himself to say the words lest they be true.

"Jim, I'm not dead...this isn't a dream...actually, it's a nightmare but right now...I'm alive and well...survived surgery, survived having my husband told I died..." she looked up at Gil who was crying himself. He never thought he would ever see anyone bring Jim to his knees. "It was a mistake Jim, a nurse thought I was someone else...that my husband was married to a more...age appropriate woman who apparently didn't make it through Cardiac Surgery..." she patted him on the back "But I'm here Jim...I'm okay..."

He kissed her cheek but kept his face buried in her hair for a moment as he tried to absorb everything. When he was sure he had at least a tentative hold on his emotions, he stood up, pulled a hankie from his back pocket, blew his nose and smiled. "You tell anyone that Brass cried...I'll deny it till my...my...well, I'll just deny it!" he turned away and looked at Gil.

"I'm so sorry Jim...Catherine, I was so ... when they told me...and then the doctors came out ... they said...nurses mistake...I forgot to call I'm sorry both of you..." he stood his arms open in apology. Jim walked over and did a very uncharacteristic Brass thing...he hugged Gil and whispered in his ear.

"I won't kick your ass this time!" he smiled then stepped back from a very surprised Gil. Not surprised because of the threat or the take back of it...but because he'd never seen Brass hug anyone that wasn't of the female persuasion. Catherine then stood up, baby in her arm and handed the little bundle to Jim then stepped around him and hugged Gil.

"I'm so happy for you..." she turned to Sara "I had all these horrible thoughts going through my head..." she wouldn't voice more than that but it did not take a rocket scientist to know what she must have been thinking. "Jim drove like his ass was on fire..." she snickered.

"And Catherine just about reached over and planted her fucking foot on top of mine asking if I learned to drive at the driving school for the elderly" he teased right back as he sat and rocked the baby in his arms. "Sorry Lexie, Uncle Brass is trying to recover from a coronary...sorry I didn't use a nice word, just remember don't repeat everything you hear!" he smiled as the baby blinked at him and moved her mouth along with his.

"We better call the boys" Catherine remembered that they had yet to inform the lab that Sara was alive.

"Maybe we shouldn't!" Brass answered. "Maybe we ought to leave well enough alone...and use this to our advantage!" he was thinking along the lines of a typical cop now. "Think about it...if Sara's dead.." he looked over "Sorry Cookie... but if whoever is behind this thinks you're dead...then maybe they'll leave you alone!" Sara looked at Gil and neither liked the idea.

"Brass, if Sara's dead, we would need a body, they're not simply going to take the word of a backwoods doctor...and you know they'll move heaven and earth to get a view of it..." Gil was thinking about how hard it would be for their friends.

"But...if she were cremated...then there wouldn't be any body to see!" Catherine was thinking along with Brass.

"I can't Cath...I can't put the lab through that...imagine what's going through Greg, Nick and Warrick's heads right now?" He sat beside Sara on the opposite side of the bed and wrapped his arm around her. "They'd hate us..." Sara nodded in agreement.

"It wouldn't be forever!" Brass reiterated.

"No, if the investigation continues without Sara" Gil squeezed her toward him. "They'll only go after someone else, whoever keeps prying, they're going to try to find something or someone you love to use against you. I'm on the receiving end now, I won't put another member of my team though it!" he wasn't about to give in and they knew from his tone.

"So, you just keep moving further East?" Catherine shifted the baby in her arms and sat back down trying to figure out a solution.

"We go back!" Sara turned toward Gil and then saw the shocked looks on Catherine and Brass' faces. "We fight this together!" Gil was proud of her but now, there was even more to lose...and he wasn't about to go quietly. He shook his head silently.

"You and the babies are going..." he started and immediately saw the raw anger come to the surface as Sara handed the baby back to Brass and turned toward her husband.

"If the babies and I go anywhere Mr. Gilbert Grissom" she saw him swallow "It will be in the company of their Father" she poked at his chest. "If I'm going into hiding, so are you, if you're going back to Las Vegas" she poked again and this time saw him wince from the pressure "Then we, as in me and our children will be joining you!" she looked at Brass then Catherine and back at Gil "Do you understand me now?" Gil looked at his friends to help him out, they turned and looked everywhere but at him.

"Sara please just hear me out?" he knew from the set of her jaw nothing he said would convince her but he certainly had to try. "We can figure this out, I know we can but I've got you and the babies to think of now Sara, not just myself!" she shook her head and chuckled. "What?"

"You have me and the babies to think of...what the hell do you think I have to ...'thank of?"' she used her fingers in her trademark quotation indication. "I won't lose my husband or my children over this but somewhere out there, someone wants that investigation closed for a reason, it's already cost four people if we're right...four people their lives and from what I was reading in the report...it could cost hundreds if not thousands more people their lives if the actual catalyst is the landing program that Arron was working on!"

"We already know they've got to have an inside person but we've yet to figure it out...I'm sure that between the entire team, one of us is going to come up with a name..." Brass tried to reassure the couple sitting beside him.

Just as they were sitting there trying to put their own puzzle pieces together...Brass' phone chirped and he looked around hoping that no one would come in telling him he'd caused a malfunction with hospital equipment.

"Brass!" It was Greg calling.

"Jim, did you get there? How's Grissom holding up? How are the babies? Are they bringing Sara's body home? Will she be buried her or California? Is Grissom coming back? Have you seen them yet?

"Slow down Sanders, slow down" he looked at Gil and Sara and realized that he was going to have to

answer the panic stricken man. "Do me a favor Greg, go outside away from the building!" he heard Greg cover the phone and say something quietly to someone else in the room, he guessed it would only be Nick or Warrick as Sander's knew the danger of telling anyone else anything about the situation.

"Okay..." he could hear Greg's shoes on the tile floor and chuckled guessing that once again Sanders had taken to wearing his thick soled Doc Martins. "I'm outside...could you please answer me?" he sounded so incredibly lost and desperate and Jim didn't know where to begin. Gil took the phone only to have Sara take it from his hand.

"Greg?" was the only thing she said when she heard him start wheezing.

"Sa...sa...Sara?" He sounded even more confused and then suddenly very angry. "Sara what the fuck is going on? We were all told you were dead? Is this some kind of sick fucking joke?" he couldn't control his temper and she understood.

"Greg it wasn't a joke, I'm so sorry that ... look, it wasn't intentional, Gil wasn't playing any jokes on anyone I promise. A nurse mistook someone else for Gil's wife...an older woman that didn't make it through the surgery she was having at the same time I was in surgery." she held Gil's hand as she told the story.

"You were in surgery? Why? Are you okay?" he loved her so much that he couldn't stop the questions. Sara smiled and motioned that it would be awhile. Gil moved over to sit with Catherine, Jim and the babies while Sara filled him in.

"I was bleeding from a uterine tear, a friend of Catherine's who's a Doctor came and brought me to the hospital. The babies by the way are fine" she smiled "anyway, some new nurse thought that Gil was married to the other woman and not knowing the truth told him that it was me that passed away instead of checking with the doctors first, anyway, Gil on the phone Brass and Catherine which is how they found out that I was supposed to be dead and with everything going on, we forgot to update them, they weren't able to update you...and...anyway I'm alive and well, Gil's fine...and Catherine and Brass are here with me...okay?"

Greg took a deep breath "Can I tell Warrick and Nick...outside the lab of course?" Sara told him yes but make sure that they were in a secure area. Greg asked if he could speak to Gil for a moment and Sara blew him a kiss and handed the phone to her husband.

"Hey Grissom, I'm glad she's okay...but I have something for you.." Gil was listening intently now. "You remember an Officer Formansky?" Gil thought and then recalled the three run ins he had that involved the officer.

"Yeah Greg I remember him!" Gil wondered why Greg was bringing him up.


	97. Chapter 97

A/N: sorry for the delay in posting, brains have been scrambled with a new manager that can't get it through her head that when a patient in a doctor's office arrives, it doesn't mean he was seen in the next moment...ah...Boss's...sorry for ranting but she's made it hard for me to keep my head on with this story now that I'm working on tying things in...forgive me if I'm a little off but should be back on track shortly. Thanks again for all the continued readers who have shown a wonderful support and kind reviews...I love you all and will one day name you all!

"Greg, what has the name Formansky got to do with any of this?" Gil was curious now but didn't want to alert Sara to anything so he'd taken the call in a private area down the hall.

"Mrs. McPherson's maiden name is Formansky!" he had the paperwork in front of him knowing full well what his supervisor was going to say.

"I'm sure in the Las Vegas area, the name Formansky isn't that uncommon Greg!" he pinched the bridge of his nose trying to stave off the impending migraine that was threatening again.

"Yeah, but...how many were officers with the Las Vegas Police Department Grissom?" Greg had done his homework.

"So you're telling me that Formansky has a connection to McPherson who's the president of SWI? But what would he, why would he be involved in whatever is going on over there?" To Gil's well trained mind, it didn't add up.

"You do know he was heavily disciplined when you got shot right?" Greg was doodling lines from each victim trying to piece together Grissom's 'holy trinity' that he based all his solves on. "He's been riding a desk since then. Secondly he was demoted by the Mayor who used him as an example of what not to do at a crime scene, didn't feel that a slap on the hands was merely enough for almost losing the lab one Entomologist!" Greg read the 'footnotes' on Brian's reports.

"I didn't know he got demoted." Gil sat down.

"What's worse, they cut his pension because of it...he should have been able to retire on three quarters pay but because he was demoted, it was cut to less than half when the board decided he was clearly negligent in your case and him being the Senior officer. Guess they wanted to avoid a civil suit because it was mentioned that if it went to trial, you'd clearly come out the winner.

"But he wasn't the officer on scene!" Gil, true to form wanted to dot every I and cross every T.

"No, but he allowed the officer that was on scene to take a coffee break at the time you were doing evidence collection and it didn't sit well with Brian that your near death experience made major headlines in Vegas. Holly Gribb's death was an example of what was NOT allowed at scenes anymore driven home even more so by Nick's abduction, there's always supposed to be an office accompanying one us and in his own words 'Standing across the street stuffing your face with powder sugar donuts is a sure way to get one of my guys killed...in fact you son of a bitch, it nearly did' end quote" When the council came back to decided what punishment should be meted out for each officer, Formansky got the brunt because he was Senior Officer on sight and because it sure looked like intention impropriety on his part to settle an old score."

Gil wasn't sure it was so cut and dry. "Greg, there's more to it...he can't be working alone. He's got to have a heavier in than simply his badge at this point. "Whoever was at my house was talking about someone 'big', I overheard them from inside the fence." Gil sat down knowing now that no matter what he did, the headache was only going to get worse. "It has to be something more Greg but I appreciate all the work you've apparently put into this, until now we didn't even have a name at least it's a start...Thanks!" he clicked the phone closed and sat back for a moment.

Brass came looking for him a short while later and found him with his head back, eyes closed and a cool cloth over his forehead that some nurse had been kind enough to supply.

"Catching a nap finally?" he teased as he took the seat next to his friend.

"Dam migraine won't let up!" he winced as he opened his eyes to the florescent bulbs overhead. "Greg just called...he was doing some digging on his own time, and came up with a name that links at least partially, the LVPD with this case."

"Do tell?" Brass was eager to get anything he could on this., it has stalled to long for his liking.

"Remember Officer Formansky?" Brass, who'd been twisting a pencil in his stubby fingers dropped it on the counter top.

"What's he got to do with anything?" He knew of the three previous times that Gil had problems with him, once when it was apparent that a cop might get hung out to dry for something and Formansky had in no uncertain terms pretty much told Gil to watch his ass if he was ever expecting back up.

The second time had been when Gil had managed to clear him during a shoot out at a store where another officer was killed along with several patrons. The shot Formansky had taken hit an innocent bystander but because of the position he was in, he never realized she was even there as the gunman ran from one side of the store to another. They'd not crossed paths again until that fateful night when Gil had gone from being a crime scene investigator to a hostage and then a victim. It was the night that everyone had pulled together and come hell or high water, managed to not only find Sara but bring her home.

"Connie Formansky is married to McPherson!"

"As in SWI McPherson?" Brass was up to date with all the Wall Street news bigwigs. "Really? And how does that play into your investigation?

"She's apparently also Formansky's little sister...that's all I got from Greg so far but at least it's a name."

"Good going Greg...but you do know, if this does bear any fruit...you're going to have to recuse yourself from this don't you?" Brass knew that Gil would be aware of this but being so close to the case, having had Sara and the children's lives threatened, he didn't think it would hurt to remind him.

"When the time comes, I'll recuse myself but until everything is done, I'm not!" he shot his friend a look that told him quite clearly that Gil was going to be perhaps hands off but all eyes throughout the investigation. He fidgeted in his chair and Jim knew he was eager to go back to his family.

Hodges had been doing some checking of his own. He'd pulled the VIN number of the car that had collided with Catalina's vehicle and after some doctoring with chemicals, he was able to pull out the number that someone had apparently assumed filing would forever be rid of. "Gotcha!" he picked up the metal strip every so daintily between gloved fingers. "Now let's see if we can figure out who you really belong to!" the car had been a dark blue Ford Taurus and while there wasn't much left to it, the driver had apparently escaped with little or no harm done to him. It took David the better part of shift playing cat and mouse with the computer but when he skated into the lab beside Greg he was grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

"I got something for you!" he held up the paper knowing that Greg was the contact on the case with Gil and Sara at the hospital and the rest of the team probably visiting them. Greg took the paper and scanned the many lines.

"Our car has quite a history doesn't it Hodges...? Good work!" it wasn't easy to get compliments from Greg but lately, knowing how hard everyone was working to get the same case solved, it couldn't hurt. David grinned thankful for any crumb he got.

"I haven't gotten a chance to see...to visit Sara, how's she doing Greg? How's Grissom?" he leaned against the counter hoping that the younger man wouldn't brush off his genuine concerns.

"She had the babies, boy and girl...no surprise there" Greg knew that the threat to Grissom had clarified the babies sex but he was trying to be good when it came to gossip about his friends. "I hate this!" he slammed a hand down making David jump. "I hate that we're getting bits and pieces but at this rate, I guess we take what we can get." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath trying to decide what to do next.

Hodges hadn't left. He picked up the information on the car and perused the notes. "Greg, the car was involved in another accident two years ago, the driver was none other than Thad Ecklie, possibly related to Conrad?" Hodges had a quizzical look on his face as he punched in the information on the driver. "Says he was just 16 at the time, driving on a learners permit, which means, he shouldn't have been driving that car alone...but does the report say anything else...such as who might have been in the car with him?"

"Seems that the victim of the other car was ...oh wow...look here...Connie Formansky!" they read together.


	98. Chapter 98

Sara was never so grateful then when they told her she'd be able to go home. Gil wasn't so happy, at least in the hospital, they could monitor her condition and he'd questioned the doctor on several occasions. "You're sure she's okay? I mean, she just had surgery, she's been under a lot of stress...I think a day or two more maybe?" he was nearly close to begging when Sara overheard his latest conversation.

"Isn't there some way you could say it was your idea, she'll listen to you doctor, honestly, I'm not thinking that it's such a good idea to..." he'd been cut off from saying another word when he heard his entire name., never a good thing lately and certainly NOT in that tone of voice.

"Gilbert Louis Grissom...right now!" Her call was a clear bellow at this point and all that Gil could do was shrug at the doctor and then enter the room leaving the man standing in the hallway laughing softly. Grissom came over, pulled up the chair beside her bed and then slowly sat down. Without looking at her, he reached up to grasp her hand only to have her quickly pull it away. "No! Absolutely Not!" his eyes shot up at the venom in her voice. "You think I don't know what you're up to? Asking the doctors to keep us here!" not a question, a definite statement and one that had her eyes blazing.

"Will you let me explain?" She crossed her arms over her belly which was much smaller now but not flat. It wasn't apparently as easy as she'd like it since her breasts were burgeoning with milk. Gil, at any other time would have cracked up laughing but her face clearly told him that she wasn't in the mood for joking. She nodded letting him continue.

"I'm worried Sara, about you and having just been through delivery and having surgery okay? Sue me if it pisses you off, you're my wife and whether or not I knew it before, I apparently waited almost half my life for you...if I live to be a hundred." he added for good measure. "You're also the Mother of my two beautiful children, believe it or not, they need you more than me!" he knew she'd get her dander up about that but it was true, she was their Mother, everyone needed their Mothers didn't they?" he scooted up the chair and she unwrapped her arms from around herself making him think she was relaxing, instead, she reached out and smacked him soundly across the back of his head.

"Dammit Sara!" he touched his skull and felt like a rocket was going off inside. He'd only just started to get his migraine under control and already it was coming back full force. "Not my head okay? I've had a migraine..." she cut him off soundly.

"Next time you open your fool mouth Gilbert Louis Grissom, you better think long and hard about any asinine statement you decide to make!" she had her finger nearly up to his nose. "Those two children need us BOTH! You and me, Mother and FATHER! Is that clear?" she hadn't relaxed her hand and Gil wasn't about to sit calmly by and let her get another swing in. He stood up and crossed the room having to stop long enough to balance himself against the radiator by the window. He swallowed the bile that instantly threatened to make an appearance and Sara noticed he looked a little pale.

"God Gil, I'm sorry, I didn't...I didn't think about your migraine, I'm..." he looked at her and saw tears. "I'm probably the reason you have the damned migraine in the first place." Gil wished he could make her feel better but right now, he seemed unable to even make the short distance from where he stood to where she was sitting. Sara at first took it that she'd really upset him until she glanced at him again and noticed he seemed to have trouble focusing and kept shaking his head. "Gil?" she slid to the end of the bed wondering how she was going to stand up on wobbly legs. "Honey? Are you okay?" he stared at the tiles, not the best design to get his eyesight back under control but he knew if he moved, the little bit of food he'd managed to swallow today would be coming back up. "Grissom...Griss...Gil?" she softened her tone then pressed the button beside her bed. Her nurse was there in an instant.

"What can I do for you Mrs. Grissom?" she looked between the woman on the edge of her bed and the man standing unsteadily beside the radiators. "Mr. Grissom are you okay?" she saw Sara scoot back up onto the bed knowing she was unable to help her husband physically.

"He's been under a lot of stress lately, he's had a migraine for several days, he seems to be having a problem with his balance and his eyesight, his doctor is on call here, Dr. Campbell, could you please get him a chair and then page him?" The nurse quickly moved the chair from beside her bed and helped him sit down, he seemed almost surprised to see her, as if he didn't hear her come in. "Gil are you okay? You're scaring me!" she was visibly upset and the nurse wasn't sure who to handle first.

"Ummm" he held his head pressing a finger to each temple. "Bad headache...very bad headache." The nurse would never know how much it took for Gil to admit that to a stranger, not one to ever complain of his own discomfort.

"I'm going to page Dr. Campbell" she had a hand resting on his shoulder "Will you be okay for a minute or two Mr. Grissom?" He looked up as if reading her lips and Sara wondered if something was wrong with his hearing again.

"Dr. Campbell...yeah...maybe you should page him..." he rested his head on his hands against the radiator sure that his brains were vying for space with some marching band. "That would be nice..." he tried to steady his breathing because even that sounded to loud in his ears. "Tell him...think I need...a shot..." Sara immediately knew how back the headache had to be for Gil to as for his Toradol shot and she knew that the guilt of hitting him even in anger would bother her for some time.

The nurse exited the room to make the call and Sara sat there at a loss as to what she could do to help him. Slowly she slid again to the edge of the mattress and then rather unsteadily she made her way over to him holding on to anything solid in her path. "Gil...I'm sorry baby" she reached out a cool hand and brought it to the side of his face. He practically buried his face into her palm at the contact. "I should have never hit you...I'm so sorry" she whispered knowing that sound was an enemy now. Taking her other hand, she ran the palm against the back of his neck and felt the heat of his body quickly warm her skin. "Sweetheart, how long?" she pressed her lips to the top of his head and brought his head back against her chest. Gil never opened his eyes but groaned in discomfort.

"Week, maybe two" he muttered. The nurse came in astonished to see Sara out of bed, but having heard how close the two of them were, she quickly realized that Sara would do whatever was needed to comfort her husband.

"Dr. Campbell will be here in a minute, he was just finishing up with a patient and said he'll bring a shot with him." she handed Sara a cool pack and asked if there was anything else she could do? Sara shook her head and was grateful that the nurse, although young apparently realized that his headache was severe. "Nothing but the shot will help now." she mouthed, the nurse nodded in agreement. Gil still hadn't opened his eyes but relaxed against Sara as she kneaded gently the knots she felt in his neck.

"I don't supposed he's been getting much rest?" She whispered as she drew the curtains in the room closed blocking out any bits of light.

"No, he's been so worried about me and the babies that I doubt he's had much sleep, had a decent meal."

Dr. Campbell arrived with his stethescope, blood pressure cuff, thermometer and a syringe of medicine he knew would help Gil. Grissom wasn't about to go along with this easily but quickly realized he was losing any ability to put up much of a fight. "I need to check your blood pressure Gil" he picked up the younger man's arm, rolled up his sleeve and then wrapped the cuff around his bicep. After taking the reading and checking his pulse, the look on his face did not please Sara in the least. Gil could care less, he wanted relief from the throbbing in his head that was getting progressively worse.

"You've obviously been under quite a bit of stress from what I've been told!' Gil looked up to deny it but knew from the pinched features that Campbell was onto him. "Your blood pressure is quite high, your pulse is irratic, you can't seem to focus your eyes.." he pulled out an otoscope and proceeded to check his ears which had Grissom pulling slightly away. "I know, I know you hate having your ears checked...but it looks like you might have a slight ear infection, how are your sinuses? Any pressure?" Grissom nodded which only hurt his head more. "How long has this migraine been going on?" Before he cuold answer, Sara cleared her throat making him reconsider lying out bit and after a knock on the door, Brass stuck his head in.

"Hey how's it go...Gil, is everything okay?" he knew his friend, knew of the migraines that sometimes knocked him off his feet but the Grissom he saw before him looked pale, wane and extremely exhausted. This episode had taken a toll and Jim was afraid that before it was over...it might be a price none of them wanted to pay.

"Migraine!" Sara whispered then motioned him over to sit on the bed beside her just as he was about to back out of the door. "Possible ear and sinus infection..." she continued in a low tone.

"He hasn't been taking very good care of himself lately!" He thought he was whispering.

"He's sitting right here!" came the grumpy complaint from across the room.

"He thinks I don't know when he's not feeling well!" Sara continued, Brass patted her hand patiently.

"He's not deaf!" Gil mumbled again then groaned when the doctor instructed him to put his head back and open his mouth.

"Say Ahhhh!" he instructed. Gil did as he was told but the pain seemed to increase with each movement of his head. "Gil, I'm going to give you a shot, it should take effect in about 30 minutes, if it doesn't, I'm going to admit you overnight.

"The hell you are!" he grabbed his head.

"The hell he's not...and if you don't agree to it, I'll sign the damned papers..." Sara was nearly standing up when Brass grabbed her arm.

"You can't!" Gil spun and the room twisted double time. "You wouldn't..." Brass smiled at him.

"She's your wife...thus, she can, I'm your friend with former Power Of Attorney...we both can and we both will!" he looked up at the doctor who'd stepped back to gather the syringe, the alchohol and a swab. Gently he cleaned the area.

"Small prick..." Sara covered her mouth and mumbled behind her hand. Brass rolled his eyes and tried to look anywhere but in the direction of the doctor, Sara or Gil.

"Not hardly...!" it got a chuckle from both the doctor and Brass.

"Slight burn and ..." he injected the medication "Should start to feel better in 30 minutes...tops" he covered the syringe then dropped it into the SHARPS container for hazzardous material. "If it doesn't get any better, I mean it Gil...I want to know!" he directed the last to Sara. "I think that keeping him overnight might not be a bad idea considering he looks like he could use a good meal..."

"Like hospitals would have good food!" he mumbled to no one in particular.

The doctor ignored him or the most part except for a shot. "Then have your friends bring you something in!". Then he turned to Sara again. "I'm sure he hasn't been sleeping much either?" Sara shook her head in agreement.

"And I'm sure they've installed Temperapedic beds here?" God when he was in pain, he was grouchy. Brass looked at Sara again and patted her arm.

"Doctor, could you possibly give him something to put him out...?" Sara was half joking, half serious.

"Yeah, for about...well how about until he gets a sense of humor?" Brass added and was surprised to see Gil flip him off. "Oh don't you keep people sedated till they die?" he chuckled and Sara slapped him.

"Leave him alone Brass...he's in pain, can't you see?" she looked up at the doctor. "If you feel he needs to be kept for observation, then that's the way it will be...I know that he wanted me kept another day, can we share a room?" The doctor liked the idea if it meant being allowed to keep an eye on Gil, the severity of the headache had him concerned especially because of his previous bout with menegitis...

"I'll get the admit orders, then I'd like to run a few blood tests just to check his labs...okay?" Sara nodded and saw Gil put his hand up over his eyes, a clear sign that things were not going the way he wanted them to. "Just a precaution Gil, you'll get a little rest and I can monitor your pain...okay?" he touched the younger man's arm.

"Do I have a choice?" he grumbled under his breath.


	99. Chapter 99

A/N: Sorry so short, tried to get a chapter out ...as some of you guessed, I suffer from MASSIVE Migraines and am on day 9 with this one...so I did this one for all of you who have stuck with this story...still have more to do but we'll see what happens now that I'm massively medicated...any mistakes are my own, as always.

Disclaimer: If they're back to work, they must belong to you...but if Jorja's back...YIPPPPEEEE

The last three people, anyone would ever expect to see leaving together and joining up at Greg's place was Greg, Hodges and Archie but today they were going to spend extra time that normally was spent sleeping, searching to put the pieces of this puzzle together.

"We have a car that was owned by quite possibly, a relative of Ecklie's" he drew up a map of suspects. "We know he was involved in a hit and run at the oh so tender age of 16."

"Shouldn't have been alone then, he would have been driving on a learners permit" Archie added as he popped down a bowl of popcorn for everyone to share. "Who was in the other car?" he looked at Greg who motioned that beers were in the fridge.

"Help yourself..." he scooted up a chair to his counter top and took a seat beside Hodges. "None other than Connie Formansky" he drew a connection between the two of them. "Hodges, were you able to figure out who if anyone was in the car with Thad?" Hodges smiled...

"Officer on the scene said that Thad was indeed with several people, one was dear old Uncle Ecklie and the third passenger was none other than Vanessa Atwater..." he waited to see who would catch on first.

Archie's mouth dropped "Atwater as in our beloved Rory Atwater?" Hodges nodded almost manically.

"One and the same, seems that Vanessa and Thad were an item!" Archie remembered hearing Conrad talking about the two of them at one time, actually he'd overheard as Conrad had been on the phone with his wife and didn't realize just how loud he was speaking.

"Wanna guess who was also in the car with Connie?" Two head swung around and waited with baited breath. "You'll never guess this one in a million years..." Archie begged off instantly, Greg thought about it...

"Atwater, Ecklie...okay, I give..." he threw his hands in the air...

"Stephanie Eiger..." David slammed the paper down like a poker player with a game winning Royal Flush..."Uncle Eiger's little sweetheart!" he decided to add "I wonder if she supplied him with any diaper products?" he joked and Archie started laughing.

"Everyone was afraid of him and turns out, like Grissom said, he had more to fear than those he kept in line." he sat back..."This is all so strange, if this is linked to Eiger it could explain the power behind all of this..." He dug further still and flipped over yet another paper.

"Seems that at the time of the accident, Thad and Vanessa were having a rip roaring argument which might have contributed to them missing the red light." David continued to read the details scrawled on the back of the report. "Ecklie was supposed to have tried to use a little pull with the on scene officer but it didn't get him too far" he flipped yet another page. "Said he would make sure that said officer walked a beat for the rest of his ... and I quote 'natural life!' end quote."

They sat back and digested what they thought.

"Okay, so Ecklie's in a car with his nephew and Atwater's niece, " he pulls out the sheet with the accident details on it. "They apparently blew a red light and plowed into Connie Formansky's car which we now know was also carrying Bruce Eiger's niece." They nodded in agreement as Greg continued to take notes. "Ecklie's already probably pretty riled up because he's listening to two teenagers having a lovers' quarrel" Archie waited for Greg to acknowledge where they now stood. "He gets out and confronts the first officer on the scene which we know because he documented it. "

"Do you think that maybe the officer might have filed a complaint with HR?" Hodges flipped through the paperwork from the case. "Yup, here it is...went in same day, filled out a complaint report and low and behold, it winds up on the desk of...non other than..."

"Rory Atwater!" Greg smiled..."Remember that toy box that Nick found in his 'inner sanctum?" he looked at Hodges because he remembered David laughing about a grown man and the pastel colors on the box. "It had files on everyone in this town who was someone...Sam Braun, Atwater had a file as well...he pretty much owned this town!" Greg took a slug of beer and sat back.

"So...what? What good did it do Ecklie to threaten the cop? He's gotten written up...?" Archie stood up to refill the popcorn dish. "Or did he?" he sat back, pulled the stack of papers from under David's hands..."Maybe it never went any further than Rory's desk...now he owns Ecklie's ass lock, stock and barrel." they nodded in unison. "But...Rory's ass belongs to Eiger...and in turn, now too does Ecklie's...we need to find out where they tie in to SWI..."

It was a start but little did they know, the can of worms was about to turn into a 'case'...

TBC...


	100. Chapter 100

A/N: Well, I made it to chapter 100 thanks to the encouragement, support and wonderful reviews from so many of you...I decided to lighten the mood a little before more action resumes just because it's the first story I've taken this far...Thank you all again, it's is certainly an interesting ride.

Disclaimer: Whatever!

The headache finally subsided, albet slowly and it had taken two doses of his migraine medication. Sara had been consulted and asked the doctor to also give him a mild sedative along with the medication siting the fact that her husband, more concerned with her health and safety and that of their children, instead of his own, had been getting little or no rest and would, if asked if he needed it, refuse. She knew when he awoke, he'd realize exactly what she'd done and they would most definitely be exchanging words. She was prepared.

The first thing he did was open his eyes slowly, half expecting any light to instantly assault his brain. When that didn't happen, he wondered how they'd managed to get the room so dark, then it occurred to him to check his watch which easily illuminated in the darkness. He'd apparently been asleep for the better part of the last seven or eight hours.

"Sara?" she knew instantly from the tone that while he was probably feeling better, she was about to be pretty much interrogated by her husband.

"I'm here Gil" she assured him from the other bed and held her breath after answering him.

"How long have I been asleep?" he still had that sexy, groggy deep sleep filled voice that caused her insides to tighten each time she heard it. She heard him shifting in the bed but not really trying to get up yet.

"You were really tired..." she lied, biting the inside of her cheek as she lay there in the darkness.

"How long?" he wanted her to answer even though he already had calculated the time in his head. He knew then that more than his normal migraine medication had been administered and the only person who would risk his ire would be Sara.

"Just a little while, not too long, apparently you needed the sleep." she hesitated saying too much.

"How long Sara?" he shifted in the bed trying to maintain an air of indignity that she'd make such a calculated move against him.

"Couple hours give or take..." she was playing coy now, would not look in his direction even though in the dimness of the room, he probably couldn't really see her eyes.

"How many hours...Sa...ra..?" he enunciated each word now.

"Maybe five..." she whispered..

"Or?" God she wished he'd just give up, she realized he knew, why couldn't he just be thankful that she put his health front and foremost this time? But she realized, it wasn't something he would have willingly gone along with and while her heart was in the right place, she probably should have talked about it first...but honestly, he hadn't been in the right frame of mind to think about his own ailment at the moment...he would have refused and suffered through the pain like he'd done so many times before...no, she'd made the right decision and dam him if he couldn't or wouldn't see it!

"Okay, seven or eight hours is that what you wanted to hear?" She sat up slowly still sore herself. "I made the decision that you needed to sleep, you needed to be taken care of this time and if you don't like it...Gilbert Louis Grissom you can simply kiss my ass!" she turned her back on him, crossed her arms and refused to speak another word to him.

"Can I?" she heard him whisper, just low enough that she could have been mistaken so she ignored him. "Sa...ra...you're not answering me." he teased in a sing song voice. "Can I?"

"Can you what?" she threw back at him still upset with him.

"Kiss your ass?" he chuckled finally feeling well enough to do so..."Can I?" he teased and she immediately knew he had accepted what she'd done...an argument could be avoided.

"Sure...!" she joked back.

"Now?" he gently scooted off the bed and slowly came over to her, adjusting his back as she did...then he crawled into bed behind her and caused her to gasp as he leaned down and gently sank his teeth into her derriere...

"Shit!" she rolled over "I didn't think you'd really..." he captured her lips in a smoldering kiss and gently wrapped his arms around her...

"Did I tell you" he kissed her lightly rubbing his lips against hers. "How much I love you?" she nodded and quirked a smile. "How much I'm grateful that you never give up on me..?" he kissed her cheeks as both hands came up to cradle her face. "How thrilled I am to have you be the mother of my children?" she smiled between caresses of his lips as he lavished his attention on her. "How beautiful you are?"

"Since when have you ever been interested in beauty?" she tossed the old question back at him once again.

"Since I met...since I fell in love with you.." he deepened the kiss and their tongues began a tango until they needed to break for air. He brushed the tear away that slid down her cheek.

"Chalk?" she teased...and he smiled a grin reserved for only her.

"If that's what you're calling it now!" he answered back and she knew again that she loved him more than anything in the world...with the exception of their two little babies..."Just how far would you go to please your...husband?" he mimicked Marjorie Wescott.

"Oh...I'd spread...my...legs" she gently maneuvered to do just that "And sleep my way to the top..." she reached up kissing his lips. "If he were cute enough..." she pulled his head down to meet hers and deepened the kiss once more. Both of them chuckled and then looked like deer in the headlights as the nurse opened the door to Sara's room.

"Oh God...I'm soooo sorry..." she started to back out..."The babies..." Sara immediately dropped her arms from around his neck.

"The babies...is something wrong?" She tried to sit up but Gil was leaning over her.

"No...no, they're fine, I was just wondering if you were ready to have them visit and perhaps nurse?" she moved back into the room and waited for their answer..."But if you'd rather...we could slip them a bottle and leave the two of you ..." Gil chuckled then slid off the bed coming around to sit in the chair beside his wife.

"No, actually" she rubbed at her breast..."I noticed it was probably time" she was still tender as she adjusted herself in the bed. The nurse excused herself and went to collect the babies. When she returned with their portable bassinets, she handed Lexie to her first and watched as Sara expertly positioned the little girl on her right breast. Gil took Brae and ever so gently lowered the corner of Sara's gown and helped him latch onto her left breast. Both babies suckled eagerly and Sara looked like she was in Heaven. The nurse again excused herself and left the family alone to enjoy their quiet time.

Gil watched in amazement as the children he never believed he would have and the wife he, at times believed he was unworthy of sat together in the most beautiful and natural of positions, a mother nursing her children and the smile she bestowed on them warmed his heart even more.

"What are you thinking?" she looked up almost shyly having caught him deep in thought.

"I'm thinking that I'm probably the luckiest man in the world..." he winked at her and sat back, arms crossed as she relaxed and allowed the babies to finish their dinner.

"Yeah?" she grinned.

"Yeah..." he smiled back and ran a gentle finger along Brae's face since he was closest to him.

"Well handsome..." she lifted up her son "Daddy can burp you and I'll handle your sister..." she smiled as Gil expertly picked him up, so naturally comfortable handling him now, put a burp towel over his shoulder and then laid him gently over the towel then patted his back...

"Come on little man...give it up!" he crooned to the infant the squirmed against the side of his head. "Good thing Daddy doesn't have his beard, it would be too scratchy for your skin...huh little man?" he nuzzled against the babies chubby legs and Brae let loose with a little gut clearing belch..."Good boy, you take after Mommy don't you?" he saw Sara shoot him a look and then start laughing.

"I guess he does after a good beer!" she shifted Lexie from the breast after having to literally pry her lips off the nipple. "Little girl, you are not using Mommy as your woobie or your pacifier...you only get the nipple when you're hungry..." Gil chuckled and she slapped at him gently. "What?"

"When do I get it?" he batted his eyes...and smiled.

"Whenever your children aren't using it..." she giggled as she tucked herself back into her gown and then mimicked him by putting Lexie on her shoulder...Brae was almost asleep in his Father's sturdy hands and Sara wished she had a camera to capture the moment.

"Tease!" he stuck his tongue out and laughed when Lexie seemed to do it back even though he knew she was simply tasting the milk on her lips. "Great, teach my daughter to stick he tongue out at her old man!" he pointed as she did it yet again...

"Well why is your son flipping me off?" Brae was laying with his little hand curled and damned if it didn't appear he was flipping the bird to someone...

"Why...MY SON would never!" he chuckled deeply and Brae grunted happily at the rocking motion his Father provided.

"Hey wait one minute!" she tried to look annoyed..."Why are they YOUR children when they're here? I don't remember you pushing them out like a watermelon...or watermelonssssss" stressed the multiples..."through a keyhole!" she was rocking Lexie in her hands, little feet braced against her belly as she tickled the baby with gentle and knowing fingertips.

"I would have...if I could...honestly...I would!" he nodded knowing full well there was no way in hell he or ANY man would willingly want to give birth after what he witnessed..."I would...really...I mean it Sara." he tried...hard to keep a straight face but he could tell from the frown on her face that she wasn't buying into it.

"Yeah and it would first of all be the shout heard round the world...and secondly" she added as his mouth opened in fained injustice "population would drop dramatically as word passed just how damned hard it really is...!" she laid her head back and sighed..."I could just picture you pregnant..."

"Waddling around the house?" he laughed at the thought of himself.

"Oh, you already waddle..." she threw in a cheap shot and started laughing much to the dismay of her daughter who started to cry because Mommy had startled her.

"Give me that child!" Gil stood and scooped her into his arm so he had a baby in each, then he slowly walked around the room, trying not to 'waddle' as his wife had accused him of...and sang soft lullabies to his babies.

Sara couldn't be happier and for the moment, both parents were able to forget, if only for a short time, the danger their lives might be in.


	101. Chapter 101

A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting, my computer decided to lose several of my chapters in progress, my Dobe was neutered and is recovering nicely and life got ahead of my fingers but I'm back now...and plan to post like before, often...enjoy.

Thanks again for the support and the wonderful reviews, ideas are always welcome...Enjoy

After further digging, a lot of delving through files, and the help of Archie's computer geek friend, they were able to find out that not only was SWI a business that Eiger had his hands in, but his wife was sitting on the board of trustees as well.

"She inherited the position upon their marriage!" Greg read over the printouts that had been sent to them. "She wasn't getting any from her husband, we know..." Greg chuckled thinking of the overgrown man with diaper rash. "But...what if she was involved with someone from SWI?" he dug further but found nothing definitive.

"What are you thinking?" Arch asked as he sat back sorting out all of the reports his friend had supplied.

"Well, we know she gained quite a bit of cash from his many life insurance policies...but why wasn't she charged with letting him die? She stood there, her pants" he flipped open Catherine's report "Were sprayed with his blood, her pants and her shoes...she stood there watching him die and did nothing!" he was visibly thrown by this. "How the hell do you do that?"

"She hated him...for what he was, she didn't obviously hate him enough to leave the man" he took a draw from the beer bottle besides him. "But she told Grissom that she let him go because she knew he would have won if he'd survived, she would have had to take care of him and while she managed to look the other way when it came to his 'fetish and incidentals', she told Catherine that no one left Bruce and that's what his little nursemaid told her as well."

"I remember hearing Catherine and Grissom talking about how she supposedly shouted "You Lose!" to him while he was dying...talk about a cold hearted bitch!" Dave was twisting pencil through his fingers.

"Well come on, Eiger was no prize, he marries a woman, decides he'll be the 'baby of the family'..." that drew a chuckle from all around the table. "He's got a honey that he keeps by telling her that she'll get to have her child back when she can prove to him she's capable of taking care of it...which we now know was never going to happen."

"The wife, not a bad looking woman seeks...company...outside of the house...and deals with her husband's infidelities to their marriage by a) turning a blind eye and b) finding comfort elsewhere..." that about summed it up.

"I got a copy of her phone records..." Archie laid them on the table... "It would seem that she had multiple conversations not only with McPherson but she was a pretty regular caller for Clayton as well." he had highlighted both of the numbers, one in pink, and the other yellow to help differentiate between the two.

"Nothing strange if she's on the board..." Greg reached across and shoved some popcorn in his mouth.

"Yeah, but since when do you hold board meetings after 11 pm at night?" Arch pushed the papers closer to his co-worker. "And, it if you go by what I've got documented, it was on the nights that Eiger was participating in 'Mommy Daycare!" he was quite proud of himself for what he'd discovered.

"So, Mommy Dearest is off having an affair with either McPherson or Clayton while someone else is rubbing butt cream on big Daddy!" Hodges scrunched up his nose "Ain't no way in hell anyone could pay me enough to do that..." again everyone at the table chuckled.

Okay, let's say that Mrs. Eiger is having a little get together with McPherson..." Archie began but Bruce held up his hand.

"Maybe its Clayton she was having a fling with..." Hodges added, "Say she's having an affair with him...and McPherson finds out...she can kind of control Eiger and now McPherson has an upper hand with the knowledge that Bruce's wife is screwing one of his people." Greg pulled bank records they'd managed to obtain, just how he wasn't about to ask because he knew deep down that if Ecklie even got wind that they'd copied every piece of information they'd obtained and now had it outside the lab, he'd blow a gasket and one or all of them could lose their jobs. Considering that they were trying to keep Gil and Sara safe, they all agreed it was worth the risk.

"Looks like two months after she starts her 'phone calls' to Clayton, there's a nice hefty deposit in none other than McPherson's personal bank account to the tune of 30,000.00." Greg circled it "And it would appear that each month, just about the same timeframe, there's additional money being siphoned off into his account." He pointed it out.

"Well, if you go over the records, Clayton would come into town right after the phone calls started, perhaps she needed an 'itch scratched' and would call her sugar daddy to come in….then have to pay off McPherson to shut his mouth, she knew if Eiger got wind of 'who' she was, doing…It would have been easy enough for him to put an end to it." Archie was thoroughly enjoying the chance to play full fledged CSI. "I mean, he had to know she was getting it somewhere, she told Catherine she would go to her 'woman's club meeting' which we know pretty much meant a meeting with Clayton.."

"So Clayton was not only doing Mrs. Eiger, he was doing Penny Harwood as well?" Hodges couldn't understand human nature, it seemed unreasonable to him to chase after more than one woman at a time, Lord knows he'd lusted after Wendy forever and it was only recently that she was showing any signs of returning his interest. "God people are just too complicated!" he added not really realizing he'd voiced his opinion out loud. Arch and Greg just exchanged amused glances but held their tongues.

Gil and Sara were finally heading home. They'd decided that they were not running, no matter what they'd stick together but only with a compromise from Catherine. They'd agreed to be put up in Sam's old house, it was private, still kept up even after his untimely death and Cath knew it was better equipped for safety than Fort Knox. It would take a small army to get into his compound and she told Sara and Gil as much.

"I'll even have Greg bring Bruno over so he's back with his parents" she'd teased mildly. "I'm glad you're both willing to do this" she helped Sara dress the babies and get her belongings packed up in the hospital.

"You're sure you don't mind?" Gil hated putting anyone out.

"Not at all, no one's using the house" she paused "What with Sam being gone and all, I do have a cleaning lady that was coming in but she's someone I trust and she's willing to stay with you guys if Sara would like help with the babies?" her quirked eyebrow was enough of a question. "I promise, she's well versed, very discrete and you won't even know she's there unless you require her for anything, Sam brought her over from Singapore and it wasn't under the best of circumstances she was forced to leave her native country…so her loyalties lie with the Braun family….and I'm a Braun!" she put her hands up in a 'what are you going to do' gesture.

"Catherine, thank you so much" Sara wrapped Brae in one of the lovely bunting bags she'd brought to the hospital. "We're going to need……….." she looked up as Catherine laid a hand on her arm.

"I took the liberty of stocking things for both of you and the babies….I kind of figured after the last conversation that you had no intentions of leaving Las Vegas." She smiled warmly and Sara realized what a good friend she'd become. "Now, how do you want to go about leaving the hospital?" she sat down on the bed cradling Lexie in her arms.

"Well…" Gil paced out the room "We don't know if we're being watched so Warrick's agreed to take one of the babies with him" he saw Sara look up. "Nick is planning on taking the other." Before she could argue he held up his hand "Sara you're not scheduled as far as anyone knows to be released for another two days…." She was going to say something "You're going home today, relax but Warrick and Nick have visited every day so having them come and go with their usual 'case file' duffle bags is not going to arouse any suspicions…." He knew the minute he mentioned putting either of the babies in a duffle bag, she was going to go ballistic. "Hear me out" he moved to stand before her and cupped her face in both his hands, careful not to squash Brae between them. "They've been coming and going for the last few days with their 'bags' just so they can move the babies from here to Sam's house, I know you don't want them out of our sights Sara but right now, it's the only way to ensure their safety, Honey, if I knew it would work, I'd slip you in a bag and get you out of here too but we have to trust our friends. " She nodded, pressing her face against the warmth of his large hands.

"When?" she wanted to cry at the thought of her children being carted around like that.

"They're actually here now…." He'd felt his pager go off the minute they'd arrived at the hospital as prearranged with his two friends. "We need to get the show on the road." She held Brae a bit tighter.

"I'm going with Warrick" Catherine assured her, "Mandy came with Nick, just like she did yesterday so the babies will be fine, Sara, I promise you with my life, someone would have to kill all of us to get at those babies." She hugged Sara as Warrick entered the room first. The babies had been nursed and changed so that there was little if any chance that one of them might start crying when they were gently placed in the bag, Lexie was first and Sara and Gil both kissed their little girl before putting her inside and having Catherine tuck a blanket securely around her.

"We'll see you both in a bit." She hugged both of them then she and Warrick left the room with their precious bundle. Twenty minutes later, Nick and Mandy after their normal 15 minute visit, repeated the performance with Brae. Sara and Gil sat side by side on the bed holding hands and feeling absolutely helpless.

"I miss them already!" she leaned her head against his shoulder. "I know I'm just being silly, we'll see them in a little bit but…." It was all she needed to say, Gil reached around her and gently pulled her into a hug.

"I know baby, I know…" he kissed her ear and held on. "But it's better this way, Catherine and Nick will make sure they get home safely and I can concentrate on you…" she turned her head slipping a hand under his chin.

"You seem to forget Gilbert, you're in as much danger as I am…only you can't seem to…" he pulled his head from her hand.

"Don't Sara! Don't' say it….you come first, I put me ahead of you for years!" tears threatened to spill from his dark eyelashes and he turned his head so she couldn't see that once again, he was in an uncomfortable position of not being able to protect his family fully. Somehow the feeling emasculated him and it was all he could do to sit there.

"Someone has to Gil, you're so dead set on protecting me and the kids that you won't think of yourself for a moment will you?" she held tight to his arm and dug her nails in when she got no response. "You're not going to answer me are you?" she slid her hand slowly up his arm but again, he kept his face turned from her.

"Sara...you have no idea do you?" his head slowly swiveled in her direction. "I couldn't protect you be..." his face dropped and he sighed.

"You couldn't protect me before? Before as in Natalie?" this time she wasn't going to let him off the hook, he had to realize that as much as he would risk his own life to protect her and the children, she would do the same for him.

"As in Natalie, as in Adam..." the breath he took was staggered with pain, sorrow and a sense of loss. "I was so hell bent on figuring out who the Miniature Killer was..."

"Stop it! Dammit Gil stop it!" she stood up and just for a moment had to catch herself. She was feeling slightly lightheaded and whether or not he meant to, he was adding to her rising blood pressure. "I am not going to sit here and listen to you berate yourself for things that were beyond your control. You were doing your job when Adam attacked me!"

"I left you alone, what right did I have investigating Warrick for Holly's death when I almost caused yours?"

She couldn't help it, the anger of him blaming himself, over and over and the thought that he put himself in the same category as what Warrick did overcame her and before she knew what happened she slapped him, a full open handed slap across his face. The look on his face was as stunned and startled as her own and she drew back and covered her gaping mouth with the hand that still stung from the impact.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry Gil...I'm so sorry..." she backed away and clutched at herself "I'm so sorry, please honey, please forgive me...Gil please I'm sorry...I'm so..." he reached out and pulled her to his chest and cradled her in his arms. His face still stung and the red imprint of her hand could be seen rising on his tanned cheek.

"Well, never let it be said that Sara Grissom doesn't have a hell of a swing" he rubbed his face with one hand and held her tightly with the other.

"Gil...I never meant to slap you, I'm sorry...it's just...how could you even think what happened compared to Warrick? He left her to place a bet...you left to get keys for drawers we needed to dig through, how could you even have known Adam was going to be roaming the halls?" she reached up and caressed the area that was reddened from her hand. "You have to know it wasn't your fault, neither was Natalie...none of this is your fault" she pulled his face toward hers wondering if he would allow her to kiss him.

"Sara...it's my job to protect my family" his voice was low and husky.

"And it's my job to protect my husband...and children.." she slipped a hand behind his head and drew his mouth down to hers. What started as small pecks of apology quickly moved toward longing, heated kisses and Sara felt him draw his tongue across the roof of her mouth. The tingle she felt elsewhere caused her head to swim. "I love you.." she kissed him gently sucking at his bottom lip. "You're my life..." the kiss was another heated merging of lips, tongues and mouths..."I waited so long for you..." they pulled apart and rested their foreheads against each other.

"I love you Sara Grissom, I just want the world for you.." he looked into her caramel doe eyes and smiled.

"And I want the same for you and God help anyone that tries to change that!" she tried to give him a deadly stare but instead wound up crossing her eyes instead and Gil chuckled.

"Oh, that will scare them off...!" he kissed the tip of her nose. "Why don't we see if we can get you out of here and reunite our family?" she nodded once again reaching up to caress the reddened mark on his cheek.

"Gil" he turned to her before heading out of the room to find the doctor. "I'm sorry for slapping you, I swore that I'd never..." he smiled.

"Sometimes i need a reminder about how stubborn I can be, just remember, you only get to knock my block off once or twice..." and with that he left her to find the doctor.


	102. Chapter 102

Warrick had Catherine pull the Denali to the front entrance of the hospital figuring that since he carried the bag in, it would look a lot less suspicious if he carried it out, tucking the strap over his shoulder, he tried to carry it both safely and as nonchalantly as if it really contained nothing more than files as in previous trips.

"Leaving already?" a nurse that he'd seen on several occasions but hadn't talked to before came up and started walking along side of him.

"Yeah, well just needed some signatures on a few files what with our supervisor and his wife being here more than at the office" he gently patted the bag for emphasis hoping that the baby inside would not make a peep. He got lucky and continued his trek to the elevators. "He's not always easy to pin down to get reports signed so I figured, while he was a captive audience, I'd get in and get out..." he shrugged like this was an everyday occurrence.

"Smart thinking...are they going home soon?" Warrick found it a little strange that until now she'd not even spared him a second glance even t though he'd passed her several times at the central desk. Slipping his sunglasses down his nose, he gave her a precursory glance from head to toe actually taking in her nametag and what she was wearing in case there was any need for such information later on.

"No clue, those two are the most private people I know...so when they know, I'm sure the office will tell me...Miss?" he hesitated giving her the usual time to fill in the blanks.

"Rhenata...Rhenata Davison..." she held out her hand and Warrick casually glanced at it to see if she was wearing any distinguishing jewelry. On her wrist was a beautiful intricately engraved bangle approximately 2 inches wide with a Phoenix surrounded by flames on it.

"Interesting.." he turned her hand as if greatly admiring the workmanship. "Special meaning?" his eyes indicated what he was referring to.

"Phoenix...rising from the ashes..." she smiled daintily. "It was a gift from...well, let's just say it was a gift to remind me of where I came from and how much it took to get to where I am today!" he released her hand but not before he noticed the unusually long and heavily painted acrylic nails. He didn't comment but made a mental note to check personnel to see if she was indeed who she said she was. They seemed out of place in the environment she was subjected to work in.

"You don't say?" he played coy and she blushed slightly. "Sounds like there could be an interesting story behind that..." she continued to follow him toward the front doors. "Well..." he looked up hearing Catherine beeping the horn. "Guess we got a call or she'd never blow the horn in a hospital zone...nice meeting you...Rhenata Davison..." he wanted her to know he'd caught the name and held it..."

"Nice to meet you too...Mr. Brown!" she watched him walk out the door, keeping her eye on the bag...but when he seemed to casually put it in the back of the truck, she was pretty sure that files were the only thing inside of it., who would risk putting a newborn in the truck unrestrained. Thankfully, with her attention on Warrick, she hadn't seen Nick and Mandy walking out not even five minutes after with an identical black bag. Mandy had seen her following Warrick and managed to snap a picture of her with her cell phone which gained an enthusiastic amount of praise for Nick.

"Good job Man..." he called her Man often times enough that she knew it was just his nickname for her. "I never thought about the cell phone" he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and the hurried from the building using an alternative exit. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" She leaned against Nick and whispered.

"She seemed very interested in Warrick...We'll call them when we get out of here" they walked to the Denali where Nick opened the door for her then put the bag in the back seat much like Warrick had done.

"You can't just leave the baby loose in a bag Nick!" she shot over the seat.

"Mandy, right now, if anyone is watching, the only thing in that bag is supposed to be files., when we get on the road I figured you could crawl over the seat and deal with her okay?" Mandy gaped like a fish but nodded slowly.

"I can crawl?" Nick winked and smiled at her "You think I'm that flexible?" she teased still astounded that he thought it would be an easy feat.

"Oh honey..." he reached out to squeeze her hand, "I'm hoping..." he winked at her and heard his cell phone ring.

"Stokes!" he flipped it open and to his ear so that Mandy would be able to hear as well.

"We ran into a little something something in the hospital Nick, are you guys out yet?" Catherine had her phone wedged against her ear as Warrick turned in the seat and secured the bag with a seatbelt then unzipped the bag and spread it open. Brae was sound asleep and Warrick was ever thankful that the Grissom's had such easy children.

"He's asleep..." he sat back and looked at Catherine she smiled and motioned that Mandy and Nick had also made it out of the hospital but with less...fanfare then they'd encountered.

"We saw the woman approach Warrick, he make it out okay?"

"Yeah...she followed him right to the door, I beeped hoping it would cover the fact that he needed to make a quick exit, she watched him put the bag in the back seat...what did you say her name was War?" she turned to her companion.

"Rhenata Davison...I'll give Greg a call and see if he can dig up anything on her...but she knew who I was..." he sat back and Catherine shook her head, she knew that the entire family was still in real danger. They hung up with Nick after agreeing to meet at a specific site and then Warrick dialed the lab.

"Sanders!" he heard the chipper voice of their youngest CSI...

"Hey Greg, need you go do some research for me..." he smiled at Catherine content that they were working together...he still harbored a crush on her and was hoping that after his divorce from Tina was final, she and he could take a page from Sara and Gil and finally get their own lives in order.

"R..h..e..n..a..t...a...D...a..v...i...s...o...n" he spelled out her name. "I've seen her at the hospital a few times, central desk, today she decided to strike up a conversation with me...and knew my name...seemed out of place, long dagger like nails that no nurse would be working with. She had an unusual bracelet on her wrist, said it was a phoenix, rising from the ashes...started to tell me she got it from...then didn't say the name, when she caught herself...she looked a little shocked that she'd almost named the person, then covered it up with some story about why she got it, a reminder of where

she came from...ya know...but I'm not buying it., had to put the baby in the back like a piece of luggage because she was watching...check her out Greg, see what you can find out."

"Will do boss, how's the munchkins?" Greg had taken to referring to the Grissom kids as Munchkins and while it had gotten a chuckle from Sara but a very strange reaction from Grissom.

"You let Griss find out you're still calling them that and he'll have you dumpster diving if you're lucky and decomp for the next twenty if you're not..." he warned lightly remembering the conversation that took place. They'd been in the hospital room cooing over the babies; Greg had just asked Sara if he could hold Lexie. Gil had been looking over a case with Warrick and Catherine and had shot Sara a glance to see if she really was comfortable with anyone holding the babies.

"Sure Greg, just support her head..." she slowly handed off the little girl.

"Come here my little Munchkin!" Greg had blown raspberries against her belly almost as if he'd expected the newborn to laugh. Lexie had simply given him a fish mouthed star and then settled contentedly in his arms.

"My kids are not mini doughnuts Sanders!" Greg had looked at him over the tops of his glasses and then went back to discussing the case with the other two visitors.

"Well, if that's the case, why'd Lexie just squeeze out some 'jelly' Daddy?" he shot back as Lexie squirmed and showed her obvious discomfort with a dirty diaper. Grissom looked from Greg to Sara who simply shrugged her shoulders and tried to stifle a laugh.

"Diapers are on the changing tray Greg...shouldn't be a problem for you!" Gil never looked up.

"Come on Munchkin.." Greg gently laid her down and proved to be an unusually quick study at cleaning and changing the little one. "My little jelly filled munchkin.." he danced around the room never noticing that Gil had stood up until he turned with the baby and came face to face with his supervisor.

"Did the smell bother you Greg?" he shot up an eyebrow.

"Nope, not in the least!" Warrick and Sara exchanged knowing looks and Catherine put her head in her hands at how stupid Greg was as to what was about to transpire. "Didn't faze Uncle Greggo at all did it my little Munchkin..." he looked up proud of himself until he saw the look in Grissom's eye...

"Good, then you should be able to handle any decomp that comes along in the next...say six months..." he smiled at the younger man who stood there staring blankly at him. "Shouldn't phase Uncle Greggoooo in the least..!" he mimicked Greg then rejoined his discussion. Greg was about to say something when he saw Sara shaking her head for him to stop before it got out of hand.

After they'd all left, Sara was paging through a magazine while Gil read over more of their active case files. Sara looked up to try to gage his mood and started slowly. "Ugh...Gil...you're not really making Greg take all the decomps for the next six months are you?" She kept reading her magazine hoping he would say he'd only been kidding.

"Ummmmmm yeah..." he looked over his glasses but saw Sara wasn't looking at him.

"You do know it's only a term of endearment right?" she honestly thought he was upset about the babies being called Munchkins.

"He should have stopped while he had the chance..." he mumbled as he turned over another sheet from the file.

"Gil, come on...he adores the babies...you know that.." she put her book down and watched him slide his glasses off and pocket them.

"Uncle Greggoooo needs to learn that Daddy Grissom doesn't take kindly to having to warn someone more than once..." he saw something in her eyes and caught himself.

"Like you warned Mommy Grissom...?" she teased. "Wayyyyy back when Mommy Grissom wouldn't take Daddy Grissom's warning that 'this' she quoted with her fingers 'could never happen'?" the corner of her mouth quirked into a half smile.

"Well...in your case Mommy Grissom" he growled back in a husky tone "Sometimes Daddy Grissom doesn't know what's good for him!" he batted his eyes...then moved over to the bed where he sat beside her "And sometimes Daddy Grissom needs a reminder about how good Mommy Grissom really is for him..." he slipped a hand under his chin...lifted her chin to his and started with a gentle peck on her lips that proceeded to get longer and longer and then he deepened the kiss even more and slipped his tongue between her soft sensual lips.

"And" Sara kissed back.."Sometimes Daddy has to remind Momma..." she wrapped her arms around him pulling him closer.

"I like reminders" Gil pulled back and licked his lips noticing how Sara's looked swollen and flushed..."Especially your reminders.." he kissed her once more and went back to reading. Greg was relieved to find out that Gil hadn't ordered him to take all the decomps that came in and had been good about not calling the babies Munchkins...at least to his face.

Nick and Mandy drove the 30 minutes toward their destination. Sam's home was a fortress and Nick felt assured that the entire family would be safe there with all the cameras and high tech equipment Sam had personally had installed. He was amazed that Catherine had decided to spend some of her weekends with Lindsey there and even more surprised to find that she fully intended to one day live there full time.

"This house is awesome" he pulled through the gates after announcing himself and answering questions that only he would know the answers for.

"Nick Stokes...I work with Catherine at the Las Vegas Crime Lab" he'd felt foolish talking to the little metal box that was window high on the left side of the driveway.

"Who is your girlfriend?" the voice queried.

"I'm hoping it will be..." he hesitated and looked over his shoulder at his passenger. "Mandy if she'll have me" he blushed. She was certainly game for anything having crawled over the seat as they sped along Las Vegas and settled in the back with Lexie securely held in her strong arms.

"Who delivered your ransom money?" the voice, sounding more and more mechanical.

"Sam Braun supplied it, Catherine asked him for it...and Gil Grissom attempted to deliver it to the kidnapper." he winched at the memories.

"Very well Mr. Stokes, please drive ahead" the huge black gates slid quietly open.

"Well, that was insightful!" Mandy teased him as she ran a hand up his arm. "Glad I wasn't driving..." she wondered what questions each of them might be asked as they tried to enter the compound. The drive was winding and there were body guards standing outside the front of the gigantic home. "This place is huge..." she looked around as a man walked up, verified Nick's ID's and then motioned them toward the house.

"Do you have the package?" the taller of the two leaned forward pressing his face against the window.

Nick shot him a look "Of course...has the other package arrived?" he felt foolish referring to the kids as packages but if that's how they were handling this, who was Nick to say otherwise. He knew in a pinch Catherine would pull in any available help to ensure their safety.

"Right this way" they waited for Mandy to step out of the back and she was holding the baby tightly against her. Nick wrapped a protective arm around her waist at they walked into the multi level home. The larger of the two men walked behind them.

"Miss Willows is inside with package number 1...she'll be waiting for you in the atrium" they showed both the hallway leading to where Catherine was waiting them returned to their stations outside. Catherine and Warrick were seated in a huge room complete with trees, flowers and all kinds of natural flora.

"Wow!" Nick looked around as a beautiful Monarch butterfly flitted around the room and finally landed on Lexie's forehead...

Catherine and Warrick started laughing as the baby worked her lips back and forth almost in tandem to the beat of the butterfly's wings. "Looks like the bugs already know who the next Dr. Grissom is going to be" they motioned for Mandy to join them and she took a seat beside them.

"Well, two of them are here, now we just have to wait for Grissom and Sara to get here." Warrick sat back, arm relaxed behind Catherine's shoulders. "I hope they get out without a problem..." he knew how close he could have been to trouble with the 'nurse' following him.

"Brass is handling their transport. As far as I know, they're being taken to the helipad, Sam's friend will pick them up in his private helicopter...and they should be here shortly.


	103. Chapter 103

"Helicopter? Helicopter? Are you fucking insane?" Sara had been in one before, back when she'd first came on board the Las Vegas Crime Lab and their case had been about a supposed kidnapping that turned out to be that but so much more. The wife, cheating on her ultra rich husband had decided with her lover to pose a kidnapping, they'd gone so far as tearing apart parts of the house to show obvious signs of a struggle, the boyfriend had apparently thought ahead buried a crate in the desert and decided that instead of splitting any ransom two ways, he'd rid himself of the 'package' bury her alive and claim the ill gotten gains himself. Gil and Sara had discovered her buried underground using infrared onboard a helicopter.

"Sara, this is a friend of Sam's that's flying us, it's not some fly-by-night outfit, the man was a damned Nam vet. and it's the fastest and safest way for us to get to the compound without being followed." he was helping her pack her things but then remembered that they'd been instructed to leave things the way they were, that Sara was 'scheduled for follow up procedures' and he was to take her himself as he'd been doing since she arrived.

"I'm not flying in a helicopter in my jammies!" she whined and Gil rolled his eyes.

"No, you'll be flying in a hospital gown, it has to look authentic Sar" he saw her swing her head toward him and drop her magazine.

"No fucking way!" she saw him wince..."Sorry, I guess I'm going to have to learn to watch my language with children..." she smiled rather demurely. "But I am not about to stick my ass in some helicopter with it hanging out of these gowns made by God knows who for someone that hasn't a human shape, come on buddy, get real...these things itch, they're open in the back for all the world to see!" her eyes fell on him as his face crinkled into a grin.

"Or one horny husband who happens to like your ass hanging out in the breeze!" he winked at her holding up the gown they'd been discussing. "Personally, I like the 'easy access' he chuckled as Sara slipped off her own nightgown.

"I am doing this under protest Gilbert Grissom!" she saw his eyes follow the lines of her body very appreciatively. "And stop ogling me like I'm some piece of meat...I'm not you know...and I'm not just a sex machine!" she chuckled as she slipped her arms in and turned around to allow him to tie the strings behind her neck. Gil pulled her tightly against him and she could feel the swell of his jeans that she was still more than capable of turning him on. "Control yourself Gilbert...for God sake is that an eraser in your pocket or are you happy to see me?" she pulled her hair up so it wouldn't' tangle in the ties. Gil leaned forward and gently kissed the nape of her neck then slid a hand around the front of her gown and cupped a full breast. Sara sighed against him and put her head back.

"You're my sex machine Sara Grissom...mine and only mine!" he pressed his mouth to her shoulder and nipped her lightly. "And don't you ever forget that now get your sexy ass in the wheelchair, we have places to go..." he turned the chair toward her.

"What about my stuff?" she saw her nightgown, magazine and some of her cosmetics strewn on the tray by her bed.

"If it can be replaced, leave it...that way it will appear that we're simply coming back..." He moved toward the door.

"Won't someone notice the babies are missing?" Gil hoped not but didn't mention to Sara that in order to cover their tracks, Catherine had her friend the doctor stage a little 'health scare' involving the kids and they were now supposedly in the Infectious Disease Unit where the only people who would be allowed near them would be the parents, the doctors treating them and the nurse...it would take an army to get passed the head nurse and she was in on the charades with Catherine and the doctor.

"They should already be home!" he closed his eyes and shook his head at the thought that Sam's house would be considered 'home' for the time being but, as opposed to trekking half way across the country with a wife and two defenseless children., he was quickly warming to the thought. He was also grateful that Catherine had thought ahead and supplied what they'd need for the babies and that someone was going to be around to lend Sara a hand dealing with Motherhood. "I told the guys not to contact us just in case but we'll be there soon enough..." he wheeled her out the door and down the now familiar corridors only when the coast was clear, he took the service elevators to the rooftop landing pad and waited just inside the door for the helicopter to land.

"Won't they be suspicious if someone doesn't recognize the helicopter?" Sara was glad he'd thought to hand her a blanket to wrap around her, in case the day was breezy. As it was, the gown would probably offer little or no protection although Gil had been kind enough to supply her with a pair of panties when she'd gotten in the elevator. He'd looked around the corridor one more time, eagerly pushed the 'close doors' button and when the two metal halves slid together, reached into his pocket.

"You might want to put these on Darling!" he leaned over and swung the item before her eyes. Sara looked up and smiled then grabbed the black lace material, standing quickly she slipped first one and then the other leg into the garment then wiggled it up her hips then slipped the gown down over herself once again. Gil was laughing...he was amazed that Sara hadn't noticed that he seemed to be carrying a little more weight up top until he reached into his shirt and pulled out a pair of black leggings. "And you might want to put these one as well!" he was hoping to get this accomplished before the elevator made it to the roof. Sara was just as fast getting into her clothes as she'd been getting out of them.

"I could kiss you Gilbert!" she slid them up and noticed that he was pulling off his tee shirt but apparently had another underneath. "My God man, how is it I missed you wearing all these extra clothes?" she hugged him, ripped off the offending hospital gown and then slipped his shirt on over her braless chest. "You don't happen to have a bra in there anywhere do you?" she pulled at the neck of his tee shirt then reached up and planted a smoochie kiss on his cheek.

"Nah...don't like to wear them...they chafe!" he winked at her. "Besides, your boobs look good without them...especially..." he eyed her up and she gave him the sternest look she could muster...

"They're not staying Gilbert...don't get used to them!" he pouted and she found it adorable..."You can enjoy them while they're here...but like anything 'new and improved' they're only here for a little while!" she kissed him again as the door slid open. Quickly looking around, Gil spotted a helicopter sitting on the pad waving them on...he grabbed Sara under the arm and moved quickly toward the chopper. As they neared, Gil noticed the pilot was not alone and something just wasn't right about the way he was signaling to them. Sara felt him tense then suddenly Gil veered off course and began dragging her toward the direction in which they came...

"What the hell...?" she screamed against the winds caused by the down draft of the rotors. The pilot seemed to be struggling with his passenger and Gil took the moment to gather her in his arms and push her toward a flight of stairs on the other side of the roof knowing that more than likely, someone had been tipped off and returning on the elevator probably wasn't the smartest. Sara kept up with her husband thanks to the gift of long legs and equally long stride but he worried about her, she'd just given birth days before, had surgery and all this excitement couldn't be good for her. Just as he turned to pull the door behind him...he heard a gunshot and saw blood seep down the pilot's side of the helicopter...He knew that his instincts had been right and was convinced that the pilot risked his own life to save theirs.

"Keep moving Sara, I know you don't feel like it but we need to get out of here" he pulled out his cell phone and thanked whomever that he was able to get reception...immediately he dialed Brass.

"Brass...you in the air?" his friend sounded pleased with himself for the moment but Gil knew that was all about to change.

"Negative, they were waiting for us!" he screamed as he and Sara descended the 13 flights of stairs. "The pilot is dead Jim..."

"Come again?" he heard his friend notch up his tone.

"The pilot...he was signaling that something wasn't right, he had someone in the passenger seat holding a gun on him, they must have struggled giving us time to get away but the last thing I heard and saw was a gunshot...Pilot's brains are on the door...Jim, we're still in the hospital, in a stairwell...you better send back up!" he kept a hand on Sara's arm and was thankful to see that most of the doors were locked on each floor as a safety precaution, his only worry was that if he knew this, so might those after them.

"Stay put...I'm five blocks away!" Jim knew that he trusted no one to get to his friends at this point with the exception of himself. "Keep your phone on Gil, I'm calling Catherine!" he clicked off and immediately dialed the phone.

"Willows...Jim did they get in the air safely?" she was holding Brae who was not happy about having been shifted around in a duffle bag.

"Negative, subjects were waiting for them, Gil managed to avoid them for the moment, they're still on premises...I'm on my way there now they're in a stairwell right now, if you can get anyone there Catherine, gather the troops, I have a feeling all hell just broke loose." he closed his phone and drove like a bat out of hell.

Catherine hung up the phone wondering if Gil and Sara were going to make it to Sam's place in one piece. Mandy and Nick had been tucking the Lexie in and Warrick caught the tension written on her features.

"What's going on Cat?" he saw her shift Brae from one shoulder to the next then back again, unable to calm the infant.

"They were almost ambushed War, I'm guessing that Ryan didn't make it...they're still on the hospital grounds, Brass is racing to them as we speak, they're apparently in a stairwell..." Mandy was coming over and Catherine had to hand over the baby who apparently picking up her moods settled in Mandy's calm arms. "Brass wants back up!" she reached for her purse and pulled her Glock from the inside then tucked it in her pants. "We're going Mandy...I need you to stay here with the babies...Nick, they were nearly ambushed we'll fill you in on the way!" she saw Warrick and Nick both unholster their weapons, check the clips and then slip on their jackets.

Nick leaned into Mandy and planted a kiss on her stunning everyone in the room. "Stay safe sweetheart, I'll be back as soon as I can!" he motioned for Cat and War to head out.

"The security system will set the minute I pull out, you're perfectly safe here, help yourself to anything you need!" she instructed the younger woman feeling safe that Mandy would be fine with the babies.

"Come back to me Stokes!" she slid her hand down his arm and leaned in one last time. "Bring Gil and Sara home safe!" he nodded and they left her standing with Brae over her shoulder. "Well little man, you'll look back on all of this and wonder what the hell you've gotten into..." she rocked him till his little eyelids drooped then went to put him to bed with his sister.


	104. Chapter 104

A/N: Thanks for the continuing input, it makes me happy to know people are still reading and I'm picking up new readers...a SPECIAL thanks to the loyal ones who have stuck with me from day one...I hope I'm holding up to your expectations...and suggestions are always welcome...

note read the TV Guide and they're saying that Gil will face a serious illness and a DA will help him overcome it so he can help her get a conviction on a case...but that's all I've heard about it...gonna have to go to some inside sources to find out more...but it will be nice to have an episode center around him...maybe Sara will come back to nurse him to health..

They made it down the first 7 flights of stairs as quickly as Sara could manage but Gil knew she was quickly running low on energy.

"Honey we need to let you rest!" his concern was clearly written on his face as he reached out and cupped a hand over his shoulder.

"Gotta ...get out...of here" she gasped between haggards breaths leaning heavily on the railing that encircled the stairway. "I wanna see my kids Gil...we have to..." she heard a door above them open and easily surmised it had to be the one from the heliport since any other doors they'd tried had been locked so far. She put her hand over his mouth as he was about to say something then made a pointing motion to the stairway above.

"You may have to go on without me Sara!" he whispered around his hand and she cast him a glare that would have melted stone. "Hear me out" he pulled her hand down but kept it curled within his larger one. "If we don't find an open door soon, we're going to have a show down here Sara, I can't risk our children growing up without you..." she opened her mouth to say more but he pulled her toward him and silenced her with a kiss. "I know, you don't have to say it sweetheart" they moved to the 6th floor and still found the door locked so they quietly moved down to the 5th where they found the same but noticed someone walking by, without thinking, Sara tapped on the glass and caught the attendants attention. She motioned for him to open the door which thankfully he did and Sara and Gil were able to quietly slip out, the only tell tale sign was the click of the lock as the door slid closed.

"How'd you get locked out there?" He seemed genuinely intrigued by the two people that slipped through the door. Sara thought quickly on her feet.

"Been cooped up here so long...we kind of...ya...know.." she blushed during the appropriate times and reached for Gil's hand.. "Newlyweds ya know..." she leaned into him until the attendant seemed satisfied and went about his business. Gil took Sara by the arm and led her through the corridors till they found another elevator.

"We're not taking anymore stairs Sara..." he pushed her into the open door, reached in and pressed the button for the lobby. For just a moment, Sara was convinced that Gil was going to slip out as the doors slid shut and she looked at him blankly. "Just making sure we're in the clear for now!" he stepped in at the last minute hoping the doors were not the type to reopen on sensors. Thankfully being back elevators, they were not and he took a deep breath as they descended to the lower floor.

Sara hung back while Gil checked around the lobby and seeing a rush of people who appeared to be leaving in a huge group, quickly pulled her by the hand and disappeared into the throng of people. Apparently they were on a tour of the hospital and were now leaving to get on the but waiting outside the door. Gil was never so grateful to blend in with a crowd as he was right now and they quickly moved outside the building with the other people milling around.

Up the street they saw Brass' Ford Taurus pulling up to the curb and he got out with his hand on his gun. Gil pulled Sara in the direction of their friend and was making his way as quick as possible when they heard someone cry out and Gil heard the unmistakable click of a gun.

"Hold It!" Came a commanding voice directly behind them. Gil looked up as Brass neared them and something in his eyes told Jim that the larger man behind him wasn't another tourist. "Don't make any sudden moves!" came the voice again and this time Gil felt the gun shoved against his spine. "You and the Mrs are going to take a little ride with me." Gil watched as Jim slowed his approach.

"You leave Sara out of this!" His voice grated through clenched teeth. "You let her go...and...I'll do whatever you say!" he purposely held her against him so she was out of the line of fire. Sara thankfully was not aware of the weapon drawn on her husband.

"No can do...boss said both of you...you should have taken her...Ummm...you should have heeded the boss' warning when you had the chance now...slowly turn this way and no one has to be hurt." he shoved the gun muzzle harder this time, into his back.

"Leave Sara out of this!" he repeated, when he looked up, Brass was no longer in front of them and for a brief moment, he wondered if he had imagined his friend pulling up to the curb.

"I said..." his words were cut short as Brass maneuvered around the big bus coming up behind the man and without a warning, slammed the muzzle of his gun against the back of the man's skull knowing that if he had called out any warning, there was too real a possibility of the man pulling the trigger or using his two friends as hostages.

"Come on you two..." he pulled his keys from his pocket and gave Gil the address of Sam's compound... "You take my car and get the hell out of Dodge!" he tossed them to Gil who still had his arm around Sara.

"What are you going to do?" he watched as Jim turned the unconscious man over and dug through his overcoat.

"I am going to drag this scumbag downtown and find out who the hell he is and then if I have to rip off every one of his fucking nails and toenails, I'm going to find out who the hell he's working for." he handcuffed the man as he flipped him back on his face and called for a car to pick them up. "Now you and Sara get the hell out of here before his friend comes looking for him.." he leaned in and kissed Sara on the cheek "Good to see you're up and about Cookie" he winked and then watched at Gil and Sara ran for the car.

The crowd around them disbursed as Jim held up his shield "Las Vegas PD, be on your way...nothing here to look at.." he commanded and the people got on the bus as a squad pulled up. Jim and the officer pulled the unconscious man to his feet and dragged him into the back seat of the car where they deposited his limp body. "Whatcha got Jim?" they got in and headed to the station.

"Not sure, he pulled a gun on a friend and I have a few questions for him when he wakes up" he figured the less he said, the better for everyone.

Sara leaned back against the headrest and stared at her husband. Gil's hands were wrapped tightly on the steering wheel and she could tell by the whitened knuckles, he had not calmed down She was biting her tongue to keep her own anger from spewing forth and the interior of the car was fraught with tension.

"Just say it Sara!" he knew what she was holding inside... "Just say it and be done with it..you think I screwed up!" he wouldn't look at her as he raced toward the compound.

"I think you...almost...screwed up!" she sat upright holding her hand against her aching abdomen. "Once again you were willing to leave your kids without a Father and your wife without a husband and I'm really getting tired of it Gil...I really am!" her voice was stronger than it had been earlier.

"Sara..." he began knowing there was not much he could say to make her anger disappear. "I don't want...I don't want to do that...honestly but if something happened to you...it would kill me!" the honesty in which those words slipped from his mouth made her start to cry. "I lived without you...in the past and I don't EVER want to do that again...I couldn't EVER do that again...and if that includes using whatever means it takes to keep you safe...I'd do it every time!" he reached for her hand but found she kept it curled tightly to her chest.

"You don't get to make that decision Gilbert Grissom!" she pulled away as far as the seat allowed her to. "We talked about...no, I talked about this because I'm sure if you had taken part in the conversation, you would have listened to me...or maybe not, I don't know anymore but I'm getting sick and tired of having you play the night in shining armor!" her voice reverberated around the interior.

"Sara...please!" His voice was a whisper.

"Don't! Don't you dare 'Sara please' me...!" she held up her hand in disgust. "You don't get to play that card either Gilbert" she turned toward him keeping her back against the door. "I had kids Gil, I didn't move to Sainthood...I can take care of myself and I won't have you offering up your life for me., your life is not any less worth something than my own!" she couldn't help it, the anger and the stress flew from her in waves. "You can't get that through your damned thick skull and I'm not about to sit around and watch you trade your life for mine...never...are you listening to me Gilbert Grissom?" he poked at him for emphasis.

They arrived at the compound and Mandy greeted them after hearing Gil's voice on the speaker. "Just drive up" she had gotten the babies fed and settled and had spent the rest of the time pacing the foyer. She could have explored the place but between worrying about Gil and Sara, she'd not heard anything from Nick either.

Gil walked in ahead of Sara and smiled warmly at Mandy but she could immediately see that something was troubling him and Sara didn't look much different.

"The babies are fine, they're upstairs if you want me to show you" Sara nodded enthusiastically but Gil showed no sign that he even heard her. Sara's outstretched hand was indication enough for Mandy to lead on and they climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked down the hall. "Everything okay?" she kept step with Sara knowing she'd just been through hell.

"No, we almost got caught..." she shook her head.

"He doesn't look okay Sara...I've never seen Gil look this..." Sara shook her head once again and followed Mandy into the makeshift nursery. Sara leaned over the crib and looked at the two adorable but sleeping infants. "Brae was a little upset earlier, I think with the tension, Catherine was trying to calm him but he picked up on it...I think your son is going to be very intuitive towards feelings...probably takes after his father?" she was teasing but saw tension in the jaw set of Sara.

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong? Out of line?" she backed up. Sara straightened up.

"No Mandy, you didn't...but I may have!" she sat in the rocker beside the cribs. "Gil tried to protect me again...and instead of being grateful, I bit his head off and..." she felt tears falling. "It's just every time someone threatens us, he goes into this white knight routine like he's invincible or...worse.." she wiped at her eyes. "Dispensable!" she started to shake having just came down from all the excitement of the day.

"He loves you Sara" she squatted down beside the rocker and rested her hand on Sara's thigh "He wasn't always like that...I mean...he has loved you for forever." Sara's head shot up. "Oh come on, what is it with the two of you? How is it that everyone in the lab knew before you two?" she chuckled and Sara quirked a smile. "He'd watch you walk down the hall and you'd see him tilt his chair just so he could watch your ass.." she sat on the rug beside her friend now. "Whenever he thought you weren't looking, he'd stare at you with these googly eyes like he hung on each word out of your mouth, it was actually sickening to watch his puppy dog stares and knowing all you two needed was about an hour in the closet to realize...oh...God I'm sorry!" she covered her mouth realizing that slipped out. "And when you went out with Hank the Skank...shit, the lab thought he was a walking time bomb."

"Hank the what?" she sat back rocking slowly.

"Hank the Skank...that's what the entire lab started to call him after that little bullshit about his girlfriend...how the hell you didn't deck him...well anyway, it's Gil that has loved you and who will continue to love you and if it means he has to puff up his chest, and strut...then let him." Sara sat back and thought long and hard. "Would you keep an eye on the babies Mandy, I need to find the washroom." Mandy gave her directions and she was just heading toward one when she noticed Gil standing in the mirror with his shirt off, trying to examine his back. When he turned slightly, she saw a huge purple contusion against the pale skin of his spine and covered her mouth in surprise. Gil heard the gasp and turned toward her then without saying another word, tried to slip his shirt back on and flipped off the light switch.

"It's nothing!" he tried to dismiss it but she pulled up his shirt and turned him toward her with gentle hands on each hip. She gently leaned forward to inspect it and recognized the shape dug into his skin.

"He had a gun on you?" she softened her voice and leaned in to lightly touch the edges, then surprising him, she dropped to her knees and planted a kiss on the bruise. "I'm sorry Gil...I'm so sorry" she murmured against the tender skin. Gil stood there and let her cover the area with sweet moist kisses, then slowly he turned to her and gently pulled her up under her arms.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Sara...I on the other hand..." he'd had time to think and he couldn't find the words to tell her everything he was feeling..."I'm the one who is sorry..." he didn't elaborate and Sara was left in the dark as to what exactly it was he was apologizing for but she thought better of pushing the issue right now.

"Come see your children...they're asleep but it will do us both good." she led him back to the sanctuary of the nursery where the two little ones were still out. Sara wrapped her arms around her husband and snuggled in against him, careful not to hit the area she knew would be very sore. "They look like little angels." she whispered against his neck. Gil turned to face her, put both of his hands on each side of her chin and lifted her face toward his own then slowly, his lips descended on hers.


	105. Chapter 105

A/N: okay, my slut muse took ahold of me this afternoon while working...so this is what I came up with to lighten the mood and to put our beloved leader in a 'predicament' that he never thought he'd find himself in...because we all know, the action and angst is about to begin shortly...

**smut warning and it ain't over in this chapter!!!!!**

They sat together in the nursery Gil on the rocker and Sara on his lap as they rocked and watched their two children sleep, secure in the knowledge that for the time being at least, they were all safe. How long that would last was anyones guess but for now, Gil would take it.

After awhile, he noticed that Sara, head on his shoulders was breathing deep and evenly and decided that the best place for her at the moment would be to find a bedroom and let her relax. As gentle as he could, he slowly rocked to his feet and, carrying her, made his way down the hallway until he found what he assumed to be a guest bedroom. He easily maneuvered her through the wide doorway and then placed her softly on the bed.

"Gil?" she looked around, eyes trying to adjust to the soft lighting in the room. "Is everything okay?" she mumbled as she curled into a pillow. "Don't leave..." she put out her hand to him and he couldn't refuse her so he sat beside her on the bed and she scooted over and snuggled on his lap, head against his belly. "I'm really sorry for what I said earlier!" her voice was low and husky as her fingers traced nervous patterns on his thigh.

"What you said was the truth Sara, never apologize for that..." he wrapped a protective arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "I get so wrapped in up trying to keep you and the babies safe...I'm just so afraid that one day I'll wake up and all of this" his hand floundered around. "All of this will be taken from me...and I'll be less of a man because..." he didn't want to rehash the entire argument but in all fairness, Sara deserved the truth.

"You could never be less of a man in my eyes Gilbert, you're all I've ever wanted, all the things I've waited for my entire life is right here" she hugged him tighter. "and in that other room...but I have my fears too..." she scooted up a bit and locked eyes with his. "I'm afraid I'm not enough for you..." he was going to say something but her finger on his lips stopped him "Hear me out..." he nodded letting her continue. "I saw you with Heather and I heard what Catherine said about her being a puzzle for you to solve...it made me feel..."

"It shouldn't have made you feel anything..." he kissed her. "Heather is a friend, yes...and at one time, when my brain was trying to convince my heart...that I couldn't...shouldn't be with you...I found her intriguing...yes I'll admit that but nothing happened Sara and nothing ever will." he kissed her again "I love you, I have forever and I will forever more...even when I'm old and...well never mind!" he teased lightly and she skimmed her hand up the inside of his thigh...

"Sarrrrraaaaa" he hissed and pulled his leg up to stop her hand traveling any further but the grin on his face spoke volumes "We're not in our own bed.." he whispered against her head.

"Makes it more ... interesting" she waggled her eyebrows at him and he gently rolled over and gathered her up in his arms.

"I agree...but I need to find out what Brass knows and ..." Before he could add that he needed to know where Catherine and Nick and Warrick was as well, she flipped him over and straddled his hips. "Sar...you know we can't do that right now...not with just having the babies...and surgery..." he rested his hands on her hips and stopped her from swiveling her hips again... "God...I want to, trust me honey but we can't...you have to stop..." his voice was huskier by the moment...

"But I want you...I want us..." she moaned against his mouth as she leaned forward... "We could fool around a little..." she sucked on his bottom lip until she was allowed entry with her probing tongue then she mimicked the act she wished was taking place...lower... "Come on Griss...you know it would be good..." she was molding her mouth to his and the molten heat of her was causing him to react in ways he didn't want to right now.

"Sara stop honey...please...stop" but she wasn't listening to him, instead she slid down and brought her heated lips to his neck, right under his chin was her favorite place to lick and suckle...and it drove him wild... "Please...stopppp" he breathed out between gasps as she lightly sank her teeth into the tendons in his neck... "Sara...you...have to..." but she continued her downward trek as she pulled up the tee shirt covering his wide expanse of chest and lavished each nipple with its own tonguing until each dark bud pebbled under her heated breath. After each 'attack' she moved further down leaving a trail with her hot tongue down the middle of his chest to his navel where she lingered long enough to have him sucking in a breath... "God woman you're driving me insane...!" but still, she wouldn't cease her travels and as she got to the buckle of his belt, she made quick work of the metal and leather and was just freeing him from confinement when they were interrupted.

"Geeze Gil...get a room!" Catherine was standing in the doorway laughing at the predicament her friend now found himself in... Sara dropped her head and realized immediately where her face was but kept it there and with her head turned away from her friend in the doorway...decided to up the anti and licked the hot velvety skin now exposed by his open zipper and pushed down boxers.

"Sara...!" Gil knew he was screwed, he couldn't sit up and push Sara away, he was too 'exposed' either way and she wasn't showing any signs of letting up.

"Busy..." she mumbled around the turgid flesh...

"When you're done Gil, come on down and we'll fill you in on our day!" she chuckled and saw Nick heading their way. Deciding that this was as good a time as any...she didn't bother to stop her co-worker...

"Hey Cath did you find Gri...Oh shit!" he covered his eyes and wished for anything that he could shrink back into the wall, the carpet...anywhere but standing outside the door watching his supervisor apparently getting head from his wife.

"Blind me now why don't you?" he chuckled and Gil simply put his arm over his head while Sara continued enjoying herself and her husband's obvious predicament. All they needed now was Warrick to walk in and from the footfalls coming down the hallway...it was about to happen.

"Catherine Willows would you please close the door and I'll be down in a minute!" he signed realizing that his wife had decided to play a very dangerous game and wasn't about to let up.

"A minute? You're that close? Damned that woman must be good!" Nick added.

"Decomp Nick, I see many months of decomp ahead of you...!" he growled and Sara increased her actions swallowing him whole... "The door guys...please shut the damned...ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh doooooor!" his hips involuntarily bucked upwards and Sara hummed around him.


	106. Chapter 106

A/N: okay, yeah, to the loyal reader who asked about the angst comment...yeah it's been a roller coaster ride...and it's not over yet...but don't get spoiled with three chapters a day., it's just my muse is working overtime while watching CSI...and I just found out Billy will be here in Chicago later in the year doing his Play that he did while in Rhode Island...and I'm going come hell or high water, I'll buy a ticket for every performance...so this is my happy gift to those following this story...

enjoy!

Thankfully, Cathrine finally took pity on him but not before she witnessed just how responsive Gil Grissom was to his wife's ministrations. He'd swallowed hard but not apparently as hard as Sara because Cath knew he'd cum but Sara never lifted her head and had to have swallowed the entire load. When she pulled the door closed, she looked at Nick who was busy handing Warrick a 50.00 bill.

"I told you she wasn't going to wait!" he said with a knowing look "That broad is one horny woman!" he snapped the crisp bill before pocketing it. "Thank you Nick, double or nothing he reciprocates in kinds?" he saw Catherine's mouth drop.

"Grissom was right, you two would bet on your Grandmother's funeral!" she headed back down the hallway stopping in to check on the two infants who continued to sleep through the noise taking place outside the door. "Well they don't take after their Mother!" she smiled to herself, adjusted their blankets and then turned on a night light on the dresser.

"God Sara..." he was sweating and the beads of water dripped from his hairline and nose. "I can't believe you did that!" his hand was gently moving through her curly hair. She pulled her head out of his lap with a Cheshire Cat grin and licked her lips.

"I told you I wanted you!" she smiled widely.

"Cath, Nick and Warrick...they saw...heard...How the hell am I ever going to face them?" his neck, ears and face were beet red.

"So what, so they saw your wife enjoying her husband big deal Grissom...it's not like the old days when we had to hide" her hand was still working his softening flesh and she cradled his balls in her hands. "Besides, it always helps you relax and sex has been known to relieve tension and today was intense!" her smugness was his undoing. "And I can't help it, I love the taste of your cock and your cum!" she licked her fingers and smacked her lips like she'd just enjoyed a juicy steak.

"You're going to be the death of me...death by blow job!" he rested his head against the headboard and felt her tuck him back into his boxers then slowly zip up his pants.

"It's a sucky way to go!" she winked as she sat up on his lap once again straddling his legs. Leaning forward, she captured his face in her hands and then pressed her lips against his. He let her tongue wander into his mouth and he could taste himself on her tongue., the thought making him start to harden again... "You know...for this 'old guy' you claim to be" she wiggled on his lap feeling the heat coming from him. "You sure don't take long for a come back!" she kissed him again only this time he placed a hand on each shoulder.

"As much as I enjoyed it...and I did enjoy 'that' part, not the part where my coworkers found out their supervisor is a sex fiend.." he chuckled "We need to find out what is going on. I want to know if Brass was able to find out anything from his prisoner and ..." she kissed him again nodding in agreement then scooted off his lap but not before leaning down and planting a kiss on the the swelling in his pants.

"Guess I'll have to have seconds later!" she stood up and straightened her clothes. Gil did the same though he was pretty sure that it wouldn't have mattered at this point, he was pretty positive that he and Sara were going to be facing some raunchy comments very soon.

Brass paced the interrogation room like a tiger stalking his prey.

"You pulled a gun on two of my friends...who are you working for!" his voice bellowed in a clipped New Jersey tone.

"I ain't talking till I get a lawyer!" the man muttered while rubbing the sore spot on the back of his neck "I'm pretty sure that I've got a concussion and that's Police brutality!" he hissed but shrank back when Brass got in his face.

"Your lawyer's delayed!" he grunted into the man's face.

"I get a phone call, it's my rights., I want my damned phone call!" he slammed his cuffed hands down on the table like he honestly believed that Brass might be impressed.

"Sorry, the lines are dead...I'll have them bring you a phone just as soon as they're fixed!" he continued his walk around the perimeter of the room. "Guess you and I will just have to keep each other company!" he chuckled.

"You can't keep me here, I want my lawyer, I want my phone call and I want something to drink!" he hissed through clenched teeth and squinted eyes.

"Guess what pal? It's a crime to pull a gun on a Officer of the Law, or for that matter anyone and I was witness to it! Just so happens that Officer of the Law is a personal friend of mine and you're not going anywhere so get comfortable!" Jim flipped a chair around across from him and straddled it backwards.

"I'm thirsty!" he demanded.

"I'm Jim Brass!" he countered not taking his eyes off the man who seemed to grow more and more nervous with each passing moment.

"Look, just get me my lawyer!" he muttered.

"Would if I could but like I said, the phone lines are down and your lawyer has been delayed!" he snickered, leaned forward and crossed his arms over the back of the chair. "Now how about you and me get out introductions out of the way...I already told you my name!" he waited knowing that the man before him was highly nervous. "Come on, you might as well tell me yours, otherwise how are we ever going to get past first meeting jitters?" he teased knowing he was irritating the man cuffed in the chair before him.

"I ain't saying nothing...can I get some water?" he was sweating now, water running in rivulets down his face. "It's hot in here...can I get some water?" he reiterated. Jim stood up and walked to the door.

"Don't go away!" he stepped outside and instructed the officer stationed outside the door to bring him two cold bottles of water. Jim looked over his shoulder and saw the man trying to run his hands through his hair, impeded by the heavy steel cuffs on his wrists.

"You think he'll crack?" the officer asked before stepping away to retrieve the items that Jim had asked for. Jim honestly didn't know, on one hand the tension in the room was palpable but he had to hope that the man would crack before he gave serious consideration to what might happen if he betrayed whomever he was working for. Going back into the room with two cold and sweating bottles of water, he sat back on his chair and left both bottle near to his hand. Slowly he picked one up and took his time uncorking the refreshing looking liquid then gently placing the cap on the table, he upended the bottle against his own lips and sucked down the water in one dramatic guzzle.

"Ah..yeah, you were right...water was just what I needed to hit the spot...thanks pal!" he put the now empty plastic on the table and watched as the man eagerly eyed up the second unopened bottle licking his parched lips.

"That for me?" his voice deepened each minute he sat there sweating harder. Jim picked up the bottle, acted like he was going to hand it to the man but drew it back.

"Nah...you want something from me, I need something from you!" he rolled the bottle back in forth in his big hands.

"Jake, the names Jake can I have the water?" his tongue reminded Jim of the lizards he'd seen in the zoo, flicking out to capture a scent or something in the air. Jim hesitated then handed him the bottle. "You gonna take these cuffs off?" he held out his wrists.

"Nah...only got this one bottle of water for now and unfortunately, the office outside just told me the entire building is on lock down..so we're going to be here for awhile, can't have you sitting here free as a bird in case of an emergency." Jim watched as once again the tongue snaked out finding it harder to wet his lips as he tried to uncork the bottle which was in fact made more difficult with the cuffs on.

"Can you help me open it?" he shoved it back toward Brass and held up his hands to show where the problem lay.

Brass picked up the bottle and flipped it from one hand to the other. "What's in it for me?" he saw the eyes shoot to his face.

"I already told you my name!" he was catching on to the game. You got nothing without giving something.

"Yeah, you did Jake, got you the bottle of water but now you need me to open it, You need something...I need something in return see how this works yet?" Jake reached up to push his greasy black hair out of his eyes.

"I ain't got nothing more for you!" it almost sounded like a whimper. "I'm sure when you run my prints, you'll know everything in my jacket but I been clean...so." he realized he'd just tipped his hand and Jim's glance told him that Brass had picked up on it.

"So you did time!" A statement, not a question this time.

"Yeah I did...so what?, I did my time, I got out..." he seemed cocky again till he saw Jim open the bottle. Thinking that he got what he wanted, he was sorely disappointed when Jim tipped the bottle against his own mouth and drank languidly. "Hey, that was my water!" he seemed genuinely incredulous at the audacity of Jim Brass.

"Was, ya lost it with your cocky attitude...wanna try again?" he motioned for the officer outside the door and requested yet another two bottles of water.

"What were you in for?" Jim sipped the water again and watched as Jake's eyes narrowed with each sip that was quickly depleting the water just a few feet from him.

"Armed Robbery, I got set up!" he stated it in such an honest way that Jim, if he wasn't the sharp cop he was might have actually believed it. "Partner set me up...told me was going to be an easy job but at the last minute, got cold feet!' he added as the officer set the bottles between them.

"And you took the wrap!" he saw Jake lick his lips once more and nod. "So who you working for now?" he knew more than likely Jake would clam up but he was working against the clock knowing that at any minute a lawyer might very well come walking through the door.

"No way..." Jake pushed himself upright in the chair bracing his hands against the table edge. "No fucking way...I'd be dead before I get out of here!" he looked around and the fear that marred his features convinced Jim that he wasn't lying.

"Okay, but what's to say..you and me having this conversation..." Jim stood up and passed an open bottle to him now. "What's to say they...whomever is watching you right now isn't thinking that we look a little friendly like...ya know, building up some camaraderie here?" Jake swallowed the water gratefully and looked up at the detective who once again began pacing. "Think about it Jake, you're a smart man!" he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"They wouldn't buy it man, they know that our boss isn't someone you...fuck around with!" he swallowed another mouthful of water and didn't seem like he could get enough. "They know...I open my mouth I'm a dead man!" his eyes roved around the room and through the door. "Sure as you're standing there, I'd be dead before you could get me out of this building and save my ass...I ain't singing...no can do man...!" he finished the water and stared at the empty bottle.


	107. Chapter 107

Catherine was sitting on one of the plush leather sofas lazily thumbing through one of the magazines that were strategically located around the room. Nick and Warrick were checking out the various plants that Sam had installed in his combination atrium and foyer.

"Man I bet this cost a bundle to keep up!" Nick tried to whisper but the sound easily carried to the next room.

"I can hear you!" Catherine called back with a smile on her face. During a conversation with Nick on a road trip out of town, he had inadvertently let it slip that everyone was under the impression that she was left very wealthy which, although what she inherited left both she and Lindsey comfortable, it by no means left her without some financial responsibility. His stocks were tied up in various casinos both in the building stage, up and running or still on the drawing board. Catherine did take over her father's seat on the board and many decisions were going to be left up to her and her Mother who also benefited from her reconciliation with Sam Braun before his untimely death.

"Sorry Cath!" Nick shrugged his shoulders remembering how momentarily bitter she seemed. Warrick looked at his friend and wondered by the look on Nick's face if there was more behind is statement and apology.

"Can you believe we actually caught Grissom with his...'pants down'?" Nick was trying to change the subject but the one he was broaching certainly was dangerous grounds if their supervisor found them discussing them. He snickered remembering the look on Grissom's face as he realized they were all standing in the hallway., a lot of questions were answered in that moment. Yes, Sara was obviously very happy with her life with Grissom, something that Nick had for a long time tried to deny was even possible with the enigmatic entomologist. Gil was obviously enjoying his life as well and was the lucky recipient of some 'hands on' care if you went by what they'd all witnessed and Nick was finally content in his knowledge that Grissom obviously partook in normal sex like a regular human being. He'd often been considered a robot lacking any feelings of compassion for his fellow workers, Sara had accused him of it, Warrick had as well and Nick was convinced that from time to time, Catherine probably had hinted the same conviction as well.

"If I were you Nicky boy., I wouldn't be too quick to bring that up to Grissom or Sara anytime soon!" he warned hearing footfalls coming down the hallway. Deciding then and there that the safest thing to do was end the conversation, he walked back to the family room and saw Sara and Gil enter from the other hallway.

"So, what have we got?" Gil took Sara's elbow as she stepped down into the sunken room then waited till she sat on the sofa and snuggled in right next to her.

"Brass is questioning the subject as we speak although from his last conversation, the man's as nervous as anything, told Brass if he gave up who he was working for, which he accidentally let slip that his boss was female., he'd be dead before he left the station which just confirms they're getting their information from someone inside."

Gil nodded and Sara sat there stunned. "Who do we know powerful enough to have that much pull?"

"It had to be someone that could have found out about Braun's helicopter pilot as well, there wasn't any indication he was coming to pick us up, the helicopter wasn't marked but the pilot was being held at gunpoint. Anyone willing to go up against a Braun..." Gil watched as Catherine looked up over her reading glasses. "You know what I mean Cath, someone has to have connections far longer reaching then we imagined."

"I agree but Jim's not done working him over" she chuckled. "You know, smooth Jim, got the heat turned up in the room to about 90, told him he couldn't get in touch with his lawyer because the phone lines are down and the PD is on lock down...and the asshole bought it ... for now!"

"Doofus!" Nick joined them sitting on the other side of Sara..."So guys, what's up?" he wrinkled his brow and winked at Sara only to find Grissom with a possessive arm around his wife giving him a death glare.

"Not much Nick!" She leaned against Gil.

"That sucks!" he continued on with his teasing ways.

"Yeah, you could say that..." Sara was hoping he meant about the situation they were facing, not what he'd just witnesses as she hadn't really had time to apologize fully for overstepping with Grissom.

"So it seems that whoever is running the show caught us with our pants down!" Catherine cringed and Warrick simply looked up and thanked God that he wasn't blessed with the thick skull of his friend. Gil didn't look amused in the least and Sara was thinking that Stokes was heading for a career in dumpster diving.

"I'm sure he's handing Jim some cock and bull story as we speak!" Again he wasn't getting the hints that Warrick was throwing his way with furtive glances.

"Are you done Stokes?" Gil warned with the inflection in his voice.

"I just don't like getting dicked with!" he chuckled on a roll and seeming unable to stop himself.

"I imagine not!" Warrick whispered between clenched teeth.

"All we can hope is Jim gets him by his balls and sucks the life out of him.." Again he wasn't taking the hint and Catherine was just about to open her mouth when Sara reached over and slapped him.

"Stokes, if you have something you'd like to say, something you'd like to ask...have balls enough to spit it out!" she turned to face him head-on. Nick rubbed at the red welt she'd left on his arm.

"Well..." he saw Grissom quirk and eyebrow..."As a matter of fact...should you have even been doing 'that' when you just gave birth and then had surgery?" he wondered if Grissom had initiated it and hadn't taken into consideration Sara's condition...always he assumed the worse when it came to Gil and Sara and the idea of them being together, even though he was happy for them, he still had his doubts after watching her pine for him year after year.

"Gil didn't ask me to..." she instantly defended her husband "I can't help it Nicky..." she stood up, walked around the sofa and put her arms around Grissom's neck and Gil wondered what she was going to come out with now. "I love the taste of Gil's cock!" she licked the shell of his ear and ran her hands down his strong shoulders "And I love the pleasure I know he gets from me..." she kissed him on the cheek and felt the heat of his blush. This was a side of Sara Gil had never known, always she seemed content to keep their relationship and sexual information to themselves but now she was here, openly displaying her lust for him. Then she turned around and waltzed out of the room leaving four very stunned people sitting staring at each other.

"I think I'll see if Sara needs help with the babies!" Catherine placed her magazine down, only after smacking Nick in the head with it.

"Ouch...damned Cath that hurt...what'd you do that for?" he rubbed at the area she'd slapped.

"Cause you can't keep your fucking mouth shut Stokes...that's why, if you get off embarrassing people, you're going to have a lot of problems later in life but for now...you can pretty much guess that the next 90 decomps are yours..." she looked at Gil, winked and then left the room.

Nick was stunned, Catherine had never spoken to him like that before and Warrick wasn't offering any help. Gil sat there simply staring at him gauging what he might say to his visibly uncomfortable subordinate. Mandy chose that moment to make herself known again having overheard the entire conversation, she was to say the least, a little disappointed with Nick at the moment. Taking a seat where Catherine had vacated so she was across from him, she also sent him a glare.

"Not you too!" he crossed his arms and puffed out his chest like that defense would work. Mandy turned toward him and stared at him. Warrick and Gil stood up and took their leave heading to another part of the house. Nick was about to stand up and Mandy snapped her fingers then pointed for him to remain right were he was. Nick figured he was in enough hot water and complied.

"I heard what you said Nicholas Stokes and I didn't find it one bit funny!" she stared at him not giving an inch.

"I was only..." she held up her hands and stopped him.

"You've known Grissom for how long? Have you ever known him to be caught in such a predicament? No! Hell he and Sara were together right under your damned noses for over 2 years and you Mr. CSI level 3 didn't even know...!" Nick swallowed hard. "So you caught him in a moment of passion but instead of being an adult about it...you decide to act like an asshole, I'm solo disappointed in you Nicholas Stokes, so disappointed" she looked at her fingernails letting him know in no uncertain terms that she was upset.

"Okay, I was an ass, I admit it but..."

"No, don't but me Stokes...there is no but that's going to suffice here, just admit you're wrong and go apologize you betrayed that man and after everything you've seen him do for you. hell, he almost got blown up trying to save your sorry ass when you got kidnapped and he would have NEVER stooped so low as to take a moment of passion and make it the punch line for a joke!" she stood up and was about to say one more thing to him but then shook her head and walked away to join Catherine and Sara.

Nick sat there for awhile contemplating how he was going to apologize, he knew he owed not only Grissom but also Sara one heartfelt apology and he knew with Catherine, Warrick and Mandy around, he better make it damned good. He'd recognized the look on Grissom's face now that he thought about it,. thinking back to the time he apologized for ever disappointing the man and having him tell him back then that he had '_never disappointed him_' all Nick could think of was '_until now' _and he felt like a real heel.

Gil and Warrick hadn't said much, War had tried to apologize for Nick's behavior but Gil simply stated that it wasn't a big deal which they both immediately realized was a small white lie. "Still, he shouldn't have said the things he did. sometimes that boy runs his big southern mouth before his head can catch up to him and tell him to shut up.." Warrick recalled his own issues while on a scene, an officer had informed him that because of something Nick said, he knew that Warrick still occasionally played the betting scene. It had not only pissed him off at the time but it had hurt to think that Nick would once again run his mouth off like that. Warrick had taken the higher road and simply let it go but now, he realized it had never really disappeared, the feelings his betrayal had caused ebbed to the surface once more.

"He shouldn't have seen what he did, I'm sorry Warrick I should have been strong enough to tell Sara to stop..." and he saw Warrick smile. "What? You don't think I could have?" he felt more at ease with Ric because he knew Warrick wouldn't dredge up anything after this conversation. "I tried ya know...?" he looked up at his friend.

"But it's Sara...and when she puts her mind to something, you and I both know...there is no stopping that girl!" War laughed easily with his friend and supervisor. "That's how she finally pinned you down!" and Gil knew it was the truth. Sara had just kept up until outside forces had finally gone in her favor and convinced Gil that he couldn't and wouldn't live without her. "Hell, if that were me, I don't think I could have told Cath...um...never mind!" he blushed and Gil cracked up laughing.

"Gotcha!" he smiled happy that Warrick and Catherine had finally found what he and Sara for so long danced around because he didn't know what to do about 'this'... "I'm happy for both of you Warrick, I really am, it's about time you both found some happiness...how's Lindsey taking it though?" Gil knew that as of late, Catherine's teenage daughter had become more than just a handful.

"Actually Linds is pretty cool about it...she's the one that told Catherine she ought to do something about us instead of sitting there hoping something would happen. Gil looked very interested in the conversation.

"Really? She was that aware of your feelings?" Warrick laughed figuring it was safe ground now.

"Hell yes and what was even funnier, she was the one that had you and Sara pegged over a year ago...she told Catherine she thought you two were in her terminology which I think she got from a Stallone movie "probably bumping uglies' right under our noses..." Gil nearly choked at the revelation.

"Girl is too smart for her own good, how's she been behaving?" Lindsey had gone through a very defiant stage after the death of Eddie Willows and Grissom felt responsible for always having relied on Catherine as his backup whenever the chips were down. Eddie had accused both himself and Catherine of having some kind of affair but both knew it was a lie, while they were close friends, they never crossed any lines near intimacy the entire time they'd known each other.

"Been good since I've been around, I think she needed a male figure in her life, what with the shit her old man used to dish out...but don't tell her that, Cath and I have kinda figured out that if she thinks something is her idea, she's more apt to go along with it..." he chuckled at the thought. Warrick was going to say more when he noticed Nick hanging by the doorway.

"Got a minute Boss?" He hung his head feeling every inch the fool he had acted.


	108. Chapter 108

Warrick excused himself and left the two men to hash out their obvious problems. Gil, figuring that Nick would feel better if he was allowed to state his case remained silent sensing the hesitancy of his subordinate to even make eye contact but as the moments ticked by, Gil wondered if it would be better for him to being, the air needed to be clear and the sooner the better.

"Do you have a problem with me Nick?" he wasn't one to beat around the bush when it came to something like this and he wasn't about to sugar coat it now. "Specifically me or my my relationship with Sara?" he saw Nick flinch at the question and tuck his hands deeper into his pockets where Gil noticed he was clenching and unclenching them.

"No...well...yeah, I do!" he stood up, his full 5 foot 11 inches and decided to face his boss. "I have a problem in both areas right now...and God, I know this probably isn't the time or place but..."

"Go ahead, the floor" Gil motioned with his hand "is all yours, have your say and I promise I won't even interrupt you but...know this Nick, after you have your say...then I'm going to have mine and I'll expect the same courtesy." he waited for any indication from Nick that he was clear on the rules.

"Am I going to have to deal with repercussions from anything I say?" it was a fair question and Gil answered him honestly.

"No, today you're free to say what's on your mind, we can't work together if you're going to hold back feelings or misguided ideas so you might as well get everything out on the table now!" Gil took a seat and then casually crossed his leg and waited for Nick to begin.

"You know I love Sara!" he breathed deeply upon finally admitting. Gil sat forward unsure that his agreement to keep his mouth shut was going to work but he nodded hoping Nick understood that all it could ever be was a brother/sister kind of love. "I've watched you skate around her for years..why now?" Nick paced the perimeter of the room not looking at him but trying to get his words out. "I've watched her cry over you...not that she'd cry on anyones shoulder mind you, but I'd pass by the locker room and she'd be there, looking crushed as usual after a bout with you" he ran a finger through his hair "now, she's in love with you...madly and she's had your children and her life is in danger and yet., she still loves you...what the hell is it about you?" his voice was filled with hurt and anger. Gil waited patiently to see if Nick was really ready for him to answer. When Nick cast a glance at him he decided the floor was his.

"Honestly?" Nick nodded. "I don't know what Sara sees in me" he sat forward and clasped his hands together. "I look in the mirror and I see an gray haired, middle-aged man who until she came into my life was an introverted hermetically sealed fool who almost lost every chance that woman gave me" he looked at Nick who stared at him with opened mouth. "I see someone that hurt the only person who was willing to love me, faults and all...and continues to do so on a daily basis." Gil stood up. "When I go to bed at night Nick, I thank God for the day that I got to spend with the most incredible woman I've ever had the honor or the pleasure to know...and when I wake up next to her, I thank God for the chance to do things just a little bit better each day." he leaned against the back of one of the sofas.

"But you hurt her...so many times..." he still couldn't understand it.

Nick, do you know the prayer about love?" Nick looked at him at first like he'd lost his mind and Grissom started to quote the poem that he'd recently put on the wall of their home.

"_Love is patient and kind_;" he looked up at Nick and continued "Sara IS love Nick, if she wasn't patient, she would have given up on me a long time ago and I would never know the kind of happiness that she's shown me.

"_Love doesn't envy or boast_." Sara has been the happiest person since we got together...well, with the exception of the bullshit she's had to go through but you never hear her wishing for more or crowing about what she's got., we live and love quietly" he blushed a bit. "With the exception of what you saw today.."

"_it is not arrogant or rude, It does not insist on its own way, It is not irritable or resentfu_l, all the things she should be for what I put her through over the last years but nothing like her at all." he smiled proudly thinking of his wife.

"_It does not rejoice in wrongdoing. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things_; and we both know that is Sara to a tee "_So now, faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love!" _"My mother taught me that Nick, it was embroidered on hand towels around my house growing up and until Sara, I honestly didn't believe it...My Mother loved my Father Nick, he was a son of a bitch to her when she lost her hearing but she loved him, and she believe in that saying...when Sara walked into my classroom all those years ago, I felt something inside of me that I tried to deny and that was not that I was capable of loving someone but that anyone like her would be capable of loving me...so I denied my love for her and tried to change her mind which...we both know went really well!" they both chuckled.

"But you do love her?" Nick loved Mandy as well, but before he could allow his heart to move forward and ask her to be with him in all ways, he had to know that Sara had finally gotten everything she wanted from life. "I mean, look at the danger she's in...because..." but he hesitated because at that moment, he realized that Sara had been standing in the doorway but Grissom did not.

"She's in danger because of a case we're working on Nick, trust me, if there was anyway I could make this go away and keep her safe I would...It's the last thing I want ... having Sara or my children" Nick noticed the blush of a smile as he said those words "threatened and no one wants to find out who is behind this more than me, I need you Nick, I need you, Warrick, Catherine and Greg...along with Sara and the twins, you're the only family I have now...but I also need you as a friend and a co-worker" he still didn't know that she was there. 'I admit I've been a fool, an idiot, and asshole but I'm trying to change, honestly I am and you may never feel that I'm worthy to have someone like Sara love me, hell some days I feel the same but it is what it is and as long as Sara will have me..."

"Which is forever!" she finally made her entrance known. "You are my equal in every way...my all and my everything" she hugged Gil then turned to Nick..."I know you love me Nick, I know you and Greg have had feelings from the start but I swear, it was never my intention to let you think there could ever be more than friends or brother sister kind of thing." she kept an arm around Gil. "If you ever thought.." she looked up through wet eyelashes..."I'm sorry..."

"No, it's me who is sorry Sara...I knew from the start your heart belonged to Griss, it was me hoping that one day he'd push you away and I could pick up the pieces and it was wrong of me, I knew it and stupidly believed that you could fall out of love with him and maybe find something with me, I thought I could make you happy but when I see you together" he swallowed "I see that ... that, the two of you belong together and I know that my decision to ask Mandy to marry me isn't settling, God I hate that I worried about that but I love that girl so much and I don't think I ever told her..." Gil quired a brow and Nick turned around to find Mandy standing there with her hand over her mouth.

"You love me Stokes? You...want to marry me?" she moved forward on shaky legs. Nick met her half way across the room and picked her up as Mandy threw her arms around his neck. "You really love me?" she'd harbored feeling for him for years and tried everything to get him to notice her, shorter hair, longer hair, lighter, darker, new glasses, contacts and always she felt that something or someone held him back from her., now she realized it had been feelings he had for Sara but she wasn't jealous, Sara had Gil and it looked like she was going to finally have the man she pined after for the last five years.

"I do love you Mandy, you make me feel more alive...I want to marry you and have 20 babies with you.." he was peppering her face with kisses as he held her in his strong arms.

"Twenty Stokes, you want twenty kids hope you're planning on adopting cause by half that, my uterus would drop out and you could help change my diapers..." she laughed and so did everyone around the room.

"What did I miss?" Catherine came in with two babies tucked in her arms. Just as she was about to hand them over, Brae let out a wail and Sara's breasts started to leak against Gil's shirt...

"Shit, sorry about this..." she backed up slightly embarrassed but realized that after what they'd all witnessed, this was low key..."Better take my kids and get them fed before more water works get started." Gil took Lexie and Sara took Brae and they excused themselves so she could nurse in private.

"You missed Nick asking Mandy to marry him!" Gil shot over his shoulder leaving a very stunned Catherine standing there, hands on hips looking for more information.


	109. Chapter 109

"So, do you have any more issues Nick?" Gil had sat back on the sofa, Sara curled into his side, Warrick and Catherine were on the other side of the room and Nick and Mandy sat across from them.

"Yeah, actually I do..." he hesitated..."If this beautiful woman accepts my proposal...would you be one of my groomsmen?" he saw the look of shear surprise on everyone's faces including Mandy.

"Are you proposing to me Nicholas?" she rubbed a hand up the side of his face.

"No..." he saw her face drop immediately "No...no Mandy I meant., ... I wanted it to be special, not something I'd blurted out because I had an issue with Gil or...hell, would you marry me if I asked?" he watched her face go from a frown to a slight smile.

"Are you asking?" she teased lightly and Nick nodded then kissed her.

"Yes, I am...Mandy would you do the honor of being my wife?" he turned to her and held her hands in his. "I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes and I know that there are times you want to ... knock some sense into me...but the times we've been together have been good and seeing how happy Gil and Sara are, I only wish the same for us" he turned to his friends "just without all the excitement they've been subjected to." he winked at the two of them sitting across from him. "I think we can make our own excitement...so, what do you say, are you willing to take me on?"

"Shit girl, are you willing to take on the entire Stokes clan?" Warrick added thinking back to all the stories of Nick's entire family. "You do realize that he's going to have to drag your ass down to Texas to get the Stokes Seal of Approval right?" Warrick teased even more and Mandy tossed him the biggest surprise.

"Oh we already did that!" she snuggled against Nick's neck and kissed him. "Mrs. Stokes told me I could even call her Mom if I was comfortable with it..." Catherine smacked Warrick's arm in a good natured manner.

"Holy Shit!" He hugged Catherine, can you believe it, we suck, what the hell kind of investigators are w e? First them two" he motioned to Gil and Sara "and now, my best buddy is courting some girl that works with us...and, and we don't even catch that one...man we're slipping Cath!" he winked and Catherine shook her head.

"We ain't slipping Ric, I knew all along that Mandy had the hots for Nick and I even told Wendy that eventually they were going to hook up so there!" she sat there flicking a nail like she'd honestly known it all the time.

"You told Wendy what?" Mandy and Sara both voiced at the same time.

"Wendy was in a funk, apparently she's got the hots for someone in the lab...and" Cat never got to finish her statement.

"David Hodges!" Nick, Gil and Warrick all answered at the same time then started laughing at their antics.

"Three stooges, right in our living room!" Catherine held out a hand. "Anyway I pretty much told her that if she was honestly interested...although I've yet to figure out what nerd boy has that's so interesting...especially when Wendy is one smart chick...and she's easy on the eyes

Brass had already pulled off his tie, his suit jacket and downed three consecutive bottles of ice cold water while Jake sat across from him sweating.

"Man can you get them to turn down the heat?" He wiped at his brow best he could with the handcuffs impeding his progress.

"Sorry, with the building on lock down, makes it impossible to get anyone in to adjust things, little toasty isn't it?" he sneered knowing that the man across from him was fast approaching the breaking point. "Now, say you give me a little something..something" he did the back and forth hand gesture that had become commonplace in the last two hours. "Maybe I can see what I can do about gettin' ya a fan." He watched as Jake swallowed hard and nodded slightly.

"You know, I'm dead when I leave here don't ya?" his voice was barely above a whisper. "You don't have a clue what they're able to do" he loosened the tie that had been around his neck. "They get you, then they threaten you and if that's not enough, they threaten your wife and children" Brass wondered what his ramblings would mean but considering that Gil and Sara were also being threatened...

"We can help you Jake, we can get you into a safe house, you and your wife...your kids..." Brass sat down and assumed a position that to Jake made him feel like Jim might actually care...and to any outsider that might be looking in, that Jake might be spilling his guts. It was a thin edge to put the man on but desperate times...

"That's just it...you have no clue who you're up against, if you did..I wouldn't be sitting here sweatin' my balls off!" he rubbed his calloused hands on his face again.

"Look Jake, I can't help you if you...no, let me rephrase that...you're a smart man...you seem ... like a smart man..." that was a stretch and Jake glanced up at his questioningly "I WON'T help you unless you help me, the people you were after...mind you I said WERE after because unless you give me something useful, you're going down for an attempt on not one but two officer's lives..." he turned up the heat just a bit more. "They're friends of mine as well as colleagues so I take any death threats against them rather personally...capish?" Jake nodded eyes wider than they were before and if it was possible, he seemed to have doubled his ability to sweat. "So let's stop the pussy footing around here and get down to brass tacks...WHO are you working for and WHY did you threaten my CSI's life?" Jake sat back and sighed.

"Cause if I didn't agree to go along with it...ya see, my son, he's not well...up here" he pointed to his head "the wrong people find out you need some help...and...then they turn it around and use it against you..." he took another deep breath. "Johnny's out one day playing out front, disappears for 5 hours...I'm thinking maybe he wandered off...till I get a phone call, you see how easy it is to make someone disappear Jake? says the voice on the phone..."Boy like him...brings a good price overseas...you getting my drift" he rambled as if the conversation was indelibly written in his head. So I tell them give me back my boy, I'll do anything...and next thing I know, Johnny shows up unhurt but very scared of 'the bad men' she' had nightmares for weeks, then I don't hear nothing ya know?" Brass nods "So I think, maybe they just wanted to scare me ...till my wife calls me, my 17 year old daughter was raped...when Ginny finally talked...she kept saying to me "All they kept repeating Daddy is 'Tell Jake this is how it is., let Jake know, this is the way it is if he crosses us. if he don't do as he's told, when he's told..." only thing the poor girl could say for weeks besides not looking at me...cause ya know, it's my fault...I apparently brought this hell into my house!" he looks at Brass now, tears in his eyes and Jim can see the man is genuinely terrified for his family. "I was just trying to get my son the help he needed..." he dropped his face into his hands and in an instant, the large man crumbled.

"You get involved with Eiger and Cavello...you might as well..." he couldn't finish but he really didn't have to, Jim had his first solid pieces to a very complicated puzzle.

The boys returned to the lab that night with much of the information sorted out and graphed. Eager to find Grissom Greg searched the halls assuming with everything having gone down, he might show up. Ecklie was waiting on them.

"Catherine, Nick and Warrick are on standby, it's been a slow night...what are you working on Sanders?" he leaned against the lab door frame, legs casually crossed at the ankles.

"I'm finishing up some of Swing's stuff for Mandy; she's out sick and..."

"I'm well aware of which Employees are in and which are out sick or otherwise Sanders; I asked what you're working on?" Greg was about to answer when Brass came rushing down the corridor.

"Sanders, if you're not on anything right now, I need you!" he'd seen the stance Ecklie had taken and could read body language enough to know he was going to be giving Greg a hard time. Greg smiled at Ecklie, shrugged his shoulders.

"Guess I'm working with Brass tonight!" he disappeared behind the stocky Detective. "Thanks Brass, I've got some information you're never going to believe who's behind this..."

"Cavello and Eiger..." Brass shot over his shoulder only loud enough for Greg to hear him and stop dead in his tracks.

"I knew about the Eiger connection but Cavello? No way, he retired a legend with Las Vegas PD he...there's no way...what would he have gained by...?" Greg was muttering as he hurried down the hallway and out of the building.

"Even legends have skeletons Sanders, skeletons and weak spots...!" he made it around the Taurus before Greg stopped again.

"Wait, where are we going?" Greg's hand rested on the handle of the door but he'd not gotten in the vehicle yet.

"We've got to fill Gil and Sara in, along with Nick and Warrick, I'm not about to call them and do that are you?" He shifted into the driver's seat and revved the engine as Greg finally slipped into the passenger seat. Greg was curious as to why another car was following them and turned nervously in the seat. "We got company?" Brass nodded.

"Let's just say I did some fishing today and the carp on the pole" he motioned to the car behind them..."he was willing to give up the worm for the promise of a new pond!" Greg shook his head and sat back for the ride.

"Is it safe to bring him with us?" Greg was nervous; he'd done enough research on Eiger when the case revolved around his death to know that he had far reaching connections.

"Safest place in town right now is Braun's crib..." he winked "Besides, when Gil gets a chance to face this Guy., we might get even more than we bargained for."

"That's what I'm afraid of" Greg slunk down in the seat wondering if Jim had lost his mind. "Since when did we start meeting suspects on home turf?" he muttered and Jim managed to catch most of what he said.

"We know, you and I that we couldn't leave him in the station, I'd bet my shield he'd be dead before I got out of the parking lot and it would certainly be easy enough to make it look like a suicide, these people aren't stupid Greg, they've covered their tracks pretty well until now. Tell me what you know" he realized that suddenly that Eiger's name hadn't surprised the young CSI; Cavello certainly did but not Eiger.

"Eiger's widow sits on the board of SWI, she was having an affair with not only Jeff Clayton but I think she was getting banged by McPherson as well." he pulled the notes out of his briefcase. "Archie's friend pulled up quite a bit of information on them and some nice hefty monthly payoffs as well:" Jim was fully interested.


	110. Chapter 110

A/N: No everyone, I have not forgotten my story, just things had gotten complicated in life and I had to step away for a few weeks, I'm back and this apparently has become my therapy so expect more action and more chapters over the course of the next few days. Thank you all (someday I will thank you individually) for the support and following this, it has made writing so much more fun. I hope that those that are just discovering this story will also stick it out, there is more to come...I promise.

Disclaimer: If I own them, why would I tell you that, I'd have people lined up out my door...so if I do, then why are you paying the actor's salaries? Guess I STILL don't!

Greg was nervous the entire trip to Braun's compound given that he must have turned and swiveled in his seat at least a thousand times in the 30 minutes it took to drive from the PD.

"Sanders, you're wearing off the leather!" Brass hissed as he made the final turn into the driveway, rang up Catherine to let her know that two cars would be entering. "For God sakes Greg, calm down already, no sense letting our prisoner think we're walking on egg shells here." he pulled up to the stairway and watched as two of Braun's former bodyguards made their way to the vehicle.

"Afternoon Captain!" the one that had talked with him earlier casually greeted him and opened his door.

"Smith!" the hardened Captain simply nodded a thanks and moved from one vehicle to the next.

"Miss Willows says we got company" his eyebrow waggled slightly at the word 'company' and Brass let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, you could say that..." he opened the second car door and helped Jake out, a chore made more difficult because Brass had insisted he remained handcuffed both for the safety of his officers and also the fact that it would look less likely that he was cooperating if he wasn't just waltzing down the hall in the company of the Las Vegas PD.

"Man, you know how hard it is to get comfortable with your damned hands behind your back?" Jack stood, shook each leg as if trying to get the wrinkles out of his pants legs.

"No Jake, can't say I've ever had the privilege." he smiled and led the way toward the house.

"You taking these things off?" he struggled to turn around like Brass might forget exactly what he was referring to.

"When we get inside Jake, wouldn't look kosher if we got eyes on you" Jake nodded and was grateful that the man was willing to help him climb the stairs given that his mobility was impaired by both his size and the awkward angle of his arms.

"So why am I here...exactly?" Jake waddled beside Brass as they strolled into the house surrounded by two of Brass' men and the two bodyguards.

"You're going to meet the two CSI's that you threatened..." he felt the man balk momentarily.

"No...no way in hell...why the hell would I want to do that?" He backed up but was stopped by the broad body of Smith who propelled him forward with a gentle shove of his large hands. "You're trying to get me killed!" he shouted at Brass quickly realizing that there was little else he could do given the situation.

"No, I'm trying to save your sorry ass Jake believe it or not but to do that, you have got to cooperate 100, I can….I won't help you unless you help me, got it?" Jake thought about it and nodded slowly.

"But this guy you got me meeting...I threatened him and his old lady!" Brass snickered at that thinking of Sara ever being considered an old lady. "He's not gonna exactly welcome me with open arms, how I know he ain't gonna try to take me out?" Jake was really getting into the Soprano's act now.

"Trust me Jake, Grissom's got too much class, to much at stake to bother with small fish like yourself and if I was you…which I'm not, as we both know cause I'm not wearing the cuffs" he continued "I'd not refer to his wife as his old lady, he's not exactly a gentleman when it comes to the wife ya know what I mean?" Jake nodded rapidly rolling his eyeballs and trying to control his breathing which had become more of panting as he tried to keep up with Brass' rapid pace.

"Well, who do we have here?" Catherine was the first to come around the corner and take a stand, her hip slightly cocked and her head tipped questioningly.

"This here is Jake, Jake; this is Catherine Willows, a very good friend of Sara and Gil Grissom…." Catherine smiled but noticing that Jake's hands were still cuffed behind him, shot a questioning glance in Jim's direction. "Jake here was the threatening voice you heard on Gil's answering machine…he's come here today to help us out." Jake swallowed nervously, something about the lithe blonde before him sent a shiver down his back.

"Hey, I know you…..I seen you before in the casinos with Braun, you're …. Shit, you're….don't tell me, you're Sam Braun's daughter?" again he had a difficult time swallowing as Catherine smiled more like a sneer and nodded slowly.

"Yup, flesh and blood, so as you see Jake, the Braun empire ain't dead yet!" she knew she was playing it up as did Jim but apparently their fish was willingly taking the bait, hook, line and sinker.

"Look, I got no quarrels with any Braun, I just was… as I was telling Captain Brass, I was just looking out for my family is all and got in over my head….I didn't mean no harm." He once again took a step back and was almost immediately impeded by Smith once more. "Okay, I threatened them, I was paid to threaten them…..but I ain't never taken no kid's life. When she told me that there were kids involved I wanted out, that's when my daughter wound up getting raped, I had no choice…."

"So, now comes the time when you sit down and spill!" Came the booming voice of none other than Gil Grissom himself. He had walked into the room unannounced and heard most of the conversation taking place between Jake, Catherine and Brass. He wanted answers and while he wondered about Brass bringing the suspect to him, realized there had to be a very good reason he'd chosen to.

"And I do mean everything!" he moved forward and motioned for Brass to take the cuffs off of him. Sara walked in right behind him and Gil simply put a hand on the small of her back as they took the three steps down into the living room.

"Cookie, maybe you should…." But a look from Gil stopped his friend in his tracks.

"This involves Sara and she'll be sitting in as well" he turned to Nicky and Mandy "Mandy, would you keep an eye on the twins for us?" She nodded then reluctantly uncurled from where she'd been snuggled up to Nick on the sofa. "Catherine, I'm sure Sam had somewhere we could talk….in private" his slight nod to the two uniforms let her know that although her body guards would be allowed near the room they were taking Jake to, the officers would not. Brass caught on just as quickly and informed his men to stand down and they could wait in the atrium until they were needed further.

Catherine walked into the room, waited for the rest of the entourage to enter then flipped a switch closing the door behind them. Gil could pick up a slight hum and Catherine told him it was just a guarantee that ears and eyes wouldn't be priviledged to anything going on in that room.

"Please Jake, take a seat." she motioned to the ebony wood table that took up center stage in the walnut panelled room. Sara and Gil sat across from him, Brass and Catherine flanked Jake. "Okay, let's get the show on the road." Catherine pulled a pen and paper out of the side desk and plopped it in front of Jake who looked up at her and then across at the people he had threatened.

"First off, I wanna apologize, I didn't know about the kids when ... when I was contacted."

"So you'd take a life if the kids weren't involved, how noble!" Sara glared at him while holding onto Grissom's hand under the table. Gil decided to up the ante and brought their joined hand to the table top. Jake swallowed hard as he watched Gil slide his thumb back and forth over Sara's fingers.

"Look, like I was tellin' the Captain here, I didn't wanna do this, honestly I'm small time gigs is all but Donna contacted me herself, told me I had no choice or ..." he reached up and wiped at the sweat that had broken out on his brow. "My son, he ain't right in the head" he looked at Brass to see if he should be retelling the tale he'd gone over in the interrogation room. Brass nodded knowing they all needed to know exactly what they were dealing with and what they could use to keep Jake talking. "So, wanting to do right by the boy, I go looking for some help, doctors, they cost money ya know and it don't grow on trees so I'm trying to do right, got two kids and a wife that thinks I'm some rich son of a bitch...spending like it's being printed in the basement...so I get into the wrong crowd, one of the guys offers to help me out...I'm a father what could I do? I took the offer...and I sold my soul to the devil." he sat back licking his lips. Brass knew that was a nice indicator that he was still quite nervous.

"Hey Catherine could we get Jake here something to drink?" Catherine looked at Brass like he'd lost his mind, she wasn't hosting a party her or anything but knew immediately from his look that Brass was up to something.

"Um...sure, what can I get you Jake?" she slowly slid out of the chair "Water,tea, coffee?" She waited while he contemplated the offering.

"Coffee would be good, two sugars easy cream.." he sat back looking a little more relaxed and Catherine shrugged her shoulders while standing behind him.

"Anyone else?" She figured since she was getting one she'd seem hospitable.

"No thanks Cath" both Gil and Sara declined, Brass was going to refuse but decided that if he took a cup as well, Jake might relax that much more realizing he wasn't drinking alone.

"I'll have my usual Catherine!" he nodded and Catherine looked like she wanted to slap him but smiled graciously when Jake looked at her.

"No problem" she disappeared around a corner and came back about 10 minutes later with two cups of coffee then gently placed each in front of their recipient. "Anything else you need?" she smiled again through her teeth and Gil almost chuckled at the look she cast at Brass. "Cookies, cake, sandwiches?" Sara shook her head and looked between Catherine and Brass.

"No...no thank you, the coffee is fine thanks!" Jake took the cup between his two hands and blew on the piping hot liquid. Catherine smirked at Gil and Sara and then sat back in her place.

"So, Jake...you were saying." Brass knew he'd developed a re pore with the suspect and figured he would be more comfortable with him if Gil wasn't leading the interrogation right off the bat.

Jake took a sip, looked around the room nervously and then locked eyes with Sara. "I'm really sorry lady, I shouldn't have done what I did but it was because of Johnny, my kid ya know...they took him once five hours and I couldn't even call the cops for help. He was outside one minute and he was gone the next and I couldn't find him, as I was telling Captain Brass, he was playing outside my house...and someone took him...I get a phone call saying they got him, he would fetch a nice price overseas...wanted to show my how easy it was to get to me, to get to my family. Wife almost left me then I told them I'd do what I was told...then I didn't hear from them again for awhile, thought I was in the clear...ya know, stupid me" he chuffed. Tears welled in the man's eyes...Then my 17 year old daughter gets raped."

Sara gasped and covered her mouth. Gil tightened his hold on her hand.

"I told Brass, Ginny wouldn't talk to any of us for the longest time, when she finally does, she won't look at me but she tells me they told her "Tell Jake this is how it is...this is what happens if he even thinks of crossing us, if he don't do what he's told when he's told!" they dumped her off, half naked, battered and bruised." Sara stood up and Gil was quickly beside her.

"If you need to leave the room Sara I understand, why don't you go check on the babies" he stroked her arm and pressed a kiss against her temple. Sara nodded and Catherine walked her out of the room.

"She'll be okay Gil, I'll make sure she's with Mandy and I'll be right back." she pressed the button to open the door then slipped outside.

"Oh God Catherine, they kidnapped his son and raped his daughter" she leaned heavily against Catherine as they walked down the corridor toward the baby's room. "What else are the capable of?" she knew she was panicking but her kids lives where at stake here.

"Sara, you are perfectly safe in this house, Sam personally oversaw every aspect of its building, it's security systems, and the people surrounding you are hand picked by him. He trusted few and those that he did would give up their lives to protect anything that is in these walls.

"But we can't stay here forever Catherine, what if we...?" Catherine quickly shook her head.

"Don't go there Sara, they pissed off Grissom and trust me, if there is anything I know, you don't piss off Gilbert Grissom and walk away!" she hugged her friend. "Now you go take care of those babies, I have an 'egg' to crack and I promise you Sara Sidle-Grissom, if it's the last thing I do, I will protect you, Gil and those beautiful babies with my life, that you can depend on!" she let her hand fall from around Sara's waist and watched her enter the temporary nursery.

Jake was hemming and hawing again and Brass decided to turn up the heat, a game of Good Cop/Bad Cop had ensued.


	111. Chapter 111

Gil was leaning across the table, Brass was pacing the room, his tie loose and dangling around his neck, shirt collar open to the second button, Jim looked like he was ready for a long sit in.

"I told you when I brought you here Jake, I won't help you if you don't help us!" his voice was loud and resonated through the enclosed space. "I could have easily waltzed you out of the station without the cuffs, that would have gotten back real quick you were co-operating with us!" He slammed his big hands against the walk causing Jake to shift nervously in his seat, eyes planted on Gil.

"We want to help you Jake, honestly but unless you give us something verifiable, something tangible to work with, what I have is going to amount to your word against theirs." Gil noticed that Jake's coffee cup was nearly empty, got up and and retrieved yet another cup. "I don't like people who hurt kids Jake, it's one of my pet peeves so you can imagine I'm sure, being a father yourself, I have to do whatever I can to protect my children." Jake nodded in agreement not thinking that the person across from him should hate his guts.

Brass picked up a chair, flipped it around and sat down heavily on it next to Jake "Look, I'd be more than happy to put your ass out the front gate! I'm betting you'd be dead before you made it half a block, what do you think?" the swallow was audible even to Gil. "I told you, these here are my friends first, my co-workers second and I'll be damned I let some two-bit thug threaten the lives of people I dearly care about!" Just as he took a breath, Catherine walked back into the room after having overheard what Brass had said.

"Look Jake, if you think that your silence is going to save your ass from your bosses, think again, the minute they find out you're here with a Braun...well I don't think I need to tell you that even hell wouldn't be far enough for you to hide your sorry ass!" it was now, Bad cop, Bad CSI and one who was slightly in awe of this side of one Catherine Willows. "I don't have a problem letting the powers that be know your where-abouts right now, so if you want to play this, _I'll help you, I want to but I can't help you game_, be my guest but I can tell you this, if you think your kid getting kidnapped and your daughter getting raped was bad, I'm sure that the people you're working for will up the ante when they get the message you've been sucking up to the Brauns!"

Jake was visibly sweating now. "I seem to remember you have a very lovely house and I'm guessing the Mrs. is still involved in your life?" Jake looked up like a puppy dog about to be slapped for wetting the floor then nodded. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind a go at her, and I've seen some of their shall we say...remodeling of houses after they got in...you like living in a burned out shell cause you'll be lucky if that's what they leave you!" she sauntered around the room. Jake looked at Gil who shrugged, hands clenched together.

"I'm trying to help you out here Jake" he spoke softly. "You see, Jim has no problem tossing your ass as he's said, Catherine, she's a Braun, you know what they're capable of" thankfully Jake's head was down and Gil was able to wink at Catherine to let her know he was playing the game. "Hell, I saw several cases of her father's handiwork Jake, it wasn't pretty."

"But he'd never hurt a kid...or my wife...they...the bastards...the bitch I work for, she'd think nothing of it...But Braun, he was honorable with the wife and kids, he wanted to get to you, he gets to you...sorry, he got to you himself may he rest in peace!" he crossed himself which had Brass rolling his eyes considering Jake was seated across from a Catholic although a non practicing one...Gil had to suppress his own reaction.

"So it would seem that you have a dilemma!" Gil sat back and waited for it all to sink in. "You can help us which in turn helps the wife and kids, you can choose to take the fall yourself!"

"Wait a minute, wait just a minute, I only threatened ya, I didn't do nothing else...I made a phone call...!" he sat up, eyes as wide as saucers "I ain't going to prison for no scumbag bitch...Eiger always said that Donna should have been born with a silver spoon in her mouth and a golden dick in her pants...he wasn't kidding!" he opened and closed his meaty hands on the table leaving sweaty palm prints. "I ain't taking no rap for her or that fucking bastard Cavello!" Gil looked at Brass, they were getting somewhere now.

"Okay, here's how it's going to go down Jake!" Brass stood back up then walked the length of the room. "You get to play canary" Brass cracked his knuckles for emphasis. "Start singing! If we like your tune, we're gonna do everything we can to help you out..." Jake watched his progression. "If not, you get a one way ticket of your choice, downtown or out the front gate, your choice as I said" he held up his hands knowing that neither of those two options were going to go over well for the man sweating profusely before them.

"I want my wife and kids protected, I don't care about me, they hate me anyway!" he seemed to genuinely believe that. Catherine pulled a surveillance picture of his wife and children she'd had Nicky fax her. It had today's date on it and Warrick could be seen in the photo along with Sophia accompanying the family from the house.

"I've already taken the first steps Jake" Catherine saw Gil look up at her stunned into silence. "I have them in a very safe place, how long that lasts is up to you know...are we clear?" Jake nodded. Brass looked at Catherine and shrugged amazed that she seemed to be one step ahead of them. Gil felt guilty for using Braun to save his family but until they found out exactly what they were up against, this was the way it had to be.

"You know Donna Eiger wasn't in a real relationship with her husband...for whatever reason I don't know" Jake asked permission to take off his suit jacket and Gil nodded. "Imagine her surprise when she winds up pregnant and Bruce, ya know, he ain't gonna look less the man, he claims the kid is his but anyone that knew him, took one look at the little faggot and knew there was no way he was Bruce's spawn. Jim and Gil exchanged glances.

"Faggot?"

"Aaron was a queer as the day is long..." Gil's eyes shot to Brass, this wasn't what they were expecting at all.

"Aaron? Aaron...Aaron Tipton?" Brass supplied the last name and Jake's head bobbed enthusiastically. "Aaron's mother was Donna Eiger?" Again Jake he nodded then chuckled.

"Good one huh? Eiger's screwing his nanny and gets her knocked up, and Donna's screwing some big shot from Southwest Internationl and get's herself knocked up. Now Eiger gets rid of the kid from his nanny but he can't very well get rid of Donna's kid though he certainly tried to force her to get an abortion. Donna felt that having Aaron around would control Bruce, he agreed to say he father him, had to be the 'big man' about it to all his friends but he knew from the start something wasn't right with that kid, he played with dollies and constantly got beat up because he acted like a little girl..." Jake laughed heartily at the memory of Bruce at the men's club bitching about how his son was some fairy. Bruce looked like he was one step away from a heart attack that day, red in the face, huffing and puffing as he waltzed his bulky body around the walnut panelled smoking room.


	112. Chapter 112

Brass and Gil were stunned; this was a turn of events that neither had foreseen. Catherine was taking it all in and gave Brass a look that said she hadn't suspected anything like this herself.

"So, Donna decides she's having this kid whether or not Bruce agrees and reminds him that he's going to look like an idiot if he say's it's not his. Bruce tells Donna that he'll say he fathered the kid but Aaron wasn't getting his last name come hell or high water. So, she puts her maiden name on his birth certificate but Bruce has a head butting meeting with McPherson and tells him he knows the truth, the kid is his that his hired hands were so gracious as to get him surveillance photos of the two of them from the start of their relationship on. Eiger knows if he sits his ass on the board of SWI it's going to be a feather in his cap but McPherson balks at this, he's not about to share his self earned wealth with someone with Eiger's reputation so Bruce compromises, Donna gets a seat and he thinks that's gonna get him somewhere but it doesn't….McPherson goes back to being all lovely dovey with his wife, Donna has a kid she thought would buy her some insurance from one of the two guys in her life, Bruce has his fingers in the SWI pie." He huffed after such a long winded speech.

Catherine handed him a glass of water to which he graciously thanked her while wiping the sweat from his brow. "What's really weird, Bruce died a week after he told Donna he wanted nothing to do with Aaron and he was changing his will." He laughed remembering the pictures of Bruce's body on the nightly news as he lay sprawled in death on the front steps of his Vegas Mansion. "But what was even stranger was that Aaron, for all his strange quirks was working on some computer program for his real daddy and it promised to make them both a ton of loot."

This was the connection they were waiting on and all three of them knew it.

"So Jake, why was that so strange?" Brass sat down, carefully folding his tie and placing it before him on the table.

"Well, after McPherson dumped her ass, Donna picks up with some consultant that SWI called in monthly" he sure knew a lot about what was going on with the Eiger's but that was something they'd ask later, for now they were content to let Jake sing…and sing he was. "He was also working on a program but when McPherson found out he was screwing Donna, he didn't want anything to do with helping make anyone else rich, so he decides that he'll hedge his bets with his kid, meanwhile, Donna finds out this guy, can't recall his name.." he thought long and hard

"Jeffrey Clayton?" Catherine added for him and Jake's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, yeah, that's it, Clayton, Jeff Clayton…Donna goes over to his place and finds him in bed with McPherson's personal secretary…well, you can just imagine what a mess that turns into." Brass nodded in agreement.

Now they had several clues and connections, it was more than they had when this started.

"So, how is it I got involved?" Grissom spoke up as he sat across from Jake.

"You remember when Bruce died?" Gil nodded, it wasn't a case that any of them were likely to forget from the moment they crawled into his 'inner sanctum' and found out what Bruce's little quirk was.

"Well, Donna was pissed because you'd managed to dig up the sordid details on Bruce but what was worse, she knew about all them files he kept on everyone in Vegas including Atwater and Cavello though, you wouldn't have known about him, Bruce had his file out at the time of his death, don't know why so can't fill you in on that just knew he was working on something, anyway…you guys carried out that toy box and Donna knew she lost some vital information on people she'd been 'using' and of course, when everything came to light, Cavello praised you up and down, for a job well done because he felt he got away unscathed but of course it was only cause you didn't get hold of his file…but your name, you and your wife, your names kept popping up about how thorough you were, how you kept some of the people from becoming targets, how you were tenacious like a bulldog, you never give up. High praise from your boss but a death sentence to you and your family unfortunately. I figured if I made a phone call and threatened the wife and kids…maybe this time you'd back off!" he shrugged, convinced that he honestly was trying to help.

"So Donna calls me, I got it on tape if you need it, not as stupid as that bitch thinks." He smiled warmly. "Tells me that if I don't get rid of you, and she didn't care by what means, she'd make sure to take care of my family, now I tell her I don't want no part in hurting a pregnant woman or her kids…don't get me wrong Mr. Grissom I certainly didn't want to hurt you either" he held up his hands, Gil nodded for him to continue "But I was put in a rather delicate position, my kid's already been kidnapped, my daughter is raped so I knew she wouldn't hesitate to do anything to the wife….I come home and my kids are screaming, the dog's been poisoned, now I know we don't have nothing on my property to do that to my dog but what's worse, they find him hanging from a tree. Now I don't know everyone she's got working for her but if you need names, I can get them for you but I want a deal…" Brass had been waiting for that card to be tossed into the ring.


	113. Chapter 113

A/N: I'm back, working full time on this story while another it coming through my brain, so it's been a bit of a pain to try and get things straight, I've decided to post both stories this week but I PROMISE, My dedication is to this story first...thank you all for your continued support and taking this wonderful ride with me...and more will be posted very soon...

Disclaimer: Well, you got Warrick (GD) I'll take the others, and keep them safe and back next season...

Brass decided to sit down and etch out a deal with Jake, in exchange for his testimony, they would move him and his family to wherever he requested. When his eyes lit up, Brass added.

"Within reason Jake, within reason, I'm not about to send you off to Monte Carlo and put you up in the swankiest hotel!" he jotted down what they would expect in exchange.

"I want my kids protected and my wife, I don't much care what happens to me anymore!" he seemed genuinely resigned to a fate in which he might no longer exist. "I hurt my family because I thought I was doing the right thing, I mean, I know I was crawling in bed with the devil but I had no idea how much of my soul those bastards wanted.

"It sounds to me like you traded a pound of flesh for 30 pieces of silver." Grissom simply stated without ever looking up as Jake watched Brass jot down notes.

"I was looking out for my boy, it cost me my family and I know I was wrong about the way I went about it, I'll pay for that the rest of my life." He sat there looking sullen. "I just want to make sure that I can protect them when I'm not around." His concern was genuine and Gil could understand his desire to help his family but Grissom questioned just how far he himself would be willing to go to protect his family. He thought back to a conversation that he had been involved with, him and the entire team when they'd investigated the death on the airplane that turned into a mob mentality attack on a passenger who was suffering from something beyond his control.

Catherine when asked answered without hesitation that for her family "I go all the way!" At the time, Grissom had been the only one to consider putting himself in the shoes of the victim and the rest of the team was dumbfounded when he couldn't answer what he would have done back then, if asked now, he'd have to agree with Cath, anything but 'all the way' would no longer be his answer.

"Jake, you know you're going to have to testify against them if this goes to trial, you need to know this before you sign any papers" Gil wanted him to understand the full extent of what he was doing.

"I know and I'll probably wind up dead afterwards but if my family is finally safe, it's a price I'm willing to pay" he whispered his answer and Gil knew that inside, deep down this man honestly did love his family.

"You do know that Cavello was at the meeting with Donna when it was decided that you were to be handled!" Jake sat back sipping his cooled up of coffee. Gil looked up at Jake, "Yeah, I thought that might get your dander up. Anyway, he and Donna were sitting around discussing how best to protect themselves, I'm not sure but I think Cavello was getting some from her as well, or…she promised him that his jacket would never come to light but either way, he was the main one that figured the only way to either control you or get rid of you…it was supposed to be set up to look like an accident, I'd be careful Mr. Grissom they play dirty and I honestly didn't want to be involved in any of this.

"Point taken Jake, point taken." He looked up at Brass and Catherine who had finally joined them once again. "I need to go check on a couple of things" which Brass easily translated to mean that he wanted to check on his family himself. Brass and Catherine nodded and Gil slipped out of the room.

"So Jake, I have found a very safe place for your family…however, you need to tell me everything you know, anyone involved in this and of course, any pertinent information you might not think is important Jake, no matter how minute the detail…." Jake nodded eagerly.

"Your wife is aware that you're co-operating with us, I talked to her myself and your son and daughter are with her right now, you're welcome to talk to them if you want but I'd suggest we get the issue out of the way and you might be able to join them this evening. Jake looked at both of them slightly confused.

"I thought I was under arrest?" Jim smiled

"Oh, make no mistake, you will be if none of this pans out, you are technically but in the event you manage to help us put these people away, your name will 'inadvertently' forget to come up and you and your family can be together again but Jake, if you don't keep your nose clean, if you give me bullshit on this…I can guarantee that you'd have been safer with 'child molester' pasted on your back in the local prison then being with me!" Brass let him know he was willing to go soft or play hardball whatever the outcome of Jakes statements.


	114. Chapter 114

Gil found Sara in the Baby's room rocking Brae who was slightly fussy.

"He won't eat, he feels a little warm, Catherine went to get a thermometer. Gil knelt beside the rocking chair and gently touched the back of his hand to the baby's face.

"He does feel warm, he was fussy earlier as well" he had tried to change Brae and found that the usually cooperative baby was squirming and making faces, scrunching up his little body as if he was uncomfortable. Not having much experience with babies, he assumed it was normal and now was kicking himself. "Sara, I'm sorry, earlier he was fussing and...I..." he hung his head .. "I didn't realize he might be sick...oh God what the hell kind of father am I? I didn't realize my own son might be sick..." he stood up and crossed the room to stare out the window. Sara sat for a minute watching the internal struggle going on with her husband.

"Gil, we're both new at this" she slowly stood up and came to stand beside him, nudging him slightly with her hip. "Hey, we are both on a learning curve her." the slow smile caused him to take a relaxing breath.

"I should have realized, he's usually easier to dress then his sister..." she shook her head and smiled softly at her husband as she handed him their son. The minute he was snuggled in his father's arms, he settled in and closed his eyes.

"Apparently, he knows safety when he feels it my Dear" she leaned into him and kissed his cheek. "I'll see what's keeping Catherine." she walked out of the room leaving Gil to take a seat in the rocker with his baby resting peacefully in his arms.

"Hey little guy..." he rocked gently not wanting to disturb the sleeping infant. "Daddy's right here and he loves you and your sister and your Mommy very, very much...do you know, for a long time, I never thought I wanted children, now I can't imagine my life without you guys?" Brae opened his eyes and sucked on his fist. "Mommy knew what I needed, she knew I needed her in my life and if she wasn't so strong and determined, she would have given up and I'd never have gotten to know what loving someone or being really loved by someone was all about." Gil was totally unaware that both Sara and Cath had returned and were standing in the doorway.

"When you get older, Daddy's gonna teach you about bugs, baseball...I'll probably be too old to run around the bases with you but I can teach you about pitching stats and how to tell the difference between a boy and girl spider, Mommy doesn't like spiders, she makes Daddy pick them up and chase them out of the house but I think you might like spiders...and even if you don't...that's okay, Daddy doesn't mind." He heard a snicker and looked up to see Catherine with her hand over her mouth, Sara with tears in her eyes.

"Did I say something wrong?" Catherine took the baby and brought him over to the changing table where she quickly took his temperature. Sara watched with rapt attention how easily Catherine handled the baby compared to her slightly unsteadiness.

"No, what you said was beautiful" she kissed him "I hope he loves bugs as much as you do" she whispered against the shell of his ear. "I hope they both do" she heard her daughter's little whimper and knew she was finally up and would be demanding her fair share. "The milk maid must produce" he saw Gil's eyebrow shoot up, his gaze fall to her breasts and she chuckled that she could still get such a reaction from him. Little did she know that wasn't the only reaction but one less visible was brewing. He shifted uncomfortably in his jeans but said nothing as he watched her scoop up their daughter, return to the rocker and put her to her breast. As long as he lived, these were the moments he would most remember, the simple beauty of watching his wife with his daughter took his breath away.

"Okay, Brae's fine, normal temp, I think he might be a bit colicky" Catherine held him over her shoulder and patted his back bringing up a bit of milk and bubbles. "It's perfectly normal for them to take time to get used to any type of food in their systems so don't worry, it's nothing you're doing." She'd caught the glint of something in Sara's features and realized that she was still nervous around the children. "Sara, you're doing great with the kids, honestly...when I first had Lindsey, I was so convinced I was going to break her, drop her...or God knows, I even thought I'd choke her to death with my nipple like that could happen" she chuckled at her friend "what I'm trying to say is...even at the best of times, having a baby or in your case, babies for the first time is a daunting task...don't be afraid to depend on Gil and your friends, it's perfectly normal to feel like you're in over your head..you'll learn quick enough." She rocked Brae and watched Gil watching his wife and daughter. It was a sight she never thought was going to happen.

She thought back to when she'd had Lindsey, alone in the hospital, she'd been handed this newborn bundle that wailed and squalled like the world was ending. She'd found herself in tears, overwhelmed at the thought of raising a child alone because her absentee husband was out once again probably with his latest squeeze doing God knew what with God knew who...and she really didn't care to know. All she knew was she suddenly looked up and found Gil and Jim standing in the doorway and she suddenly knew she'd be okay. Jim had experience with kids, Gil did not but he was a pretty quick learner and before long, he was rocking Lindsey, offering her bottles and several times you could find her carrier tucked behind his desk while Catherine was out on a call. He'd been a rock and one hell of a friend and several times she'd come back from something to find him rocking Lindsey while working on a report. She'd mentioned kids to him once only to see him cringe and tell her that he really didn't think it was ever in the cards for him, that or marriage.

"I don't see me as the marrying kind Cath, I'm moody, a loner...what would I have to offer a child..let alone a wife?" he had sat back with the small bundle curled in the crook of his arm staring down at her like she was the most precious angel and smiled. "I just don't think anyone is out there that could put up with me or what I do for a living..the hours, the things we see...it would take someone pretty special...no" he'd shaken his head. "I just don't see this for me." and sadly he'd handed Lindsey back to her, returned to his paperwork and his belief that he was destined to remain alone forever. Thankfully, now that was only a memory and he had that special woman, just as he'd described, someone that would love him no matter what, put up with his job, the hours and the things they saw and who also blessed him with two wonderful children.

"What?" he looked at Catherine with a quizzical smile "What were you just thinking about?" Sara looked up from the rocking chair.

"Just thinking back to when I first had Lindsey..." she looked down at Brae and rubbed a gentle finger along his cheek making him pucker his little lips. "When I was so scared that I'd never be able to raise her..."

"You did a fine job Catherine, you're doing just fine!" Sara switched breasts with a burp in between and smiled at how quickly her daughter latched on. "Just like your Daddy" she said without thinking until she heard Gil choke out a cough.

"Ex...excuse me?" Catherine turned around finding Gil's face a pretty crimson red. Sara looked up like a fish out of water...

"Ummmm ugh...nothing...I...I was talking to my daughter and...um..." Gil shook his head, tucked his hands deep into his pockets and waited to see how Sara was going to squirm out of this one.

"So, what I thought was true Gilbert Grissom?" Catherine could never resist the temptation to give her friend hell whenever possible. "You're a true breast man?" Gil looked at her and rolled his eyes. Sara started to laugh and her daughter sucked harder making her wince...

"Hey, hey...easy there little miss..." she looked at Catherine who showed her how to put her little finger in the corner of the baby's mouth to break the suction. "God I'm still so tender..." Lexie latched on again but this time she lay there only half sucking...

"When she does that Sara, take her off the best, don't let them get in the habit of simply sucking on you for comfort..." she saw the surprised look on Sara's face. "They take forever to nurse when you allow that...it's get on, get down to business and back off...leave the comfort part for Daddy here" she patted Gil on the shoulder and started laughing.

"Oh shut up Flipper" Catherine's mouth dropped wide and Sara shot a confused glance at both of them.

"You son of a bitch!" Catherine slapped him in the shoulder while still holding on to Brae. "You swore you'd never...you son of a bitch" she was actually laughing and Gil couldn't contain himself. Sara looked from one to the other for some kind of explanation.

"Flipper? Wasn't that the name of a television show back in the 60's?" the honesty in which she asked the question was ignored once again as Catherine heard the name she never in a million years thought she'd ever have to hear again... "I take it there is some other meaning behind Gil calling you that?" she picked up Lexie and moved toward the changing table where she quickly stripped off Lexie's wet diaper, cleaned and powdered her daughter then quickly had her redressed.

"Yeah, but in Cat's case...it had nothing to do with a dolphin!" she'd never heard Grissom laugh quite as hard as he was right now nor did she see Catherine want to kill him with each passing moment. "Though you could say that the way she was able to make her breasts move..." she slapped him so hard this time that her hand stung but Gil couldn't stop laughing.

"I swear to God Gilbert Grissom you are so dead...so fucking dead...!" she looked like she wanted to kill him, dismember him and then bury his body and not necessarily in that particular order.

"Hey...hey now, no cursing in front of my children, they're young and impressionable, I mean, come on...isn't it enough that you'll probably teach my daughter what a pole ..." she was about ready to kick him when Brass came to his rescue.

"I think you guys better get back in here...our little blue jay is singing up a storm now!" Sara stood and took Brae back from Catherine and Gil leaned in to steal a quick kiss from his wife.

"Be back in a bit..." he smiled.

"And you're explaining just what the hell that was all about!" she laughed.

"Like hell!" Catherine could be heard as she hurried down the hall right behind Jim Brass...


	115. Chapter 115

**A/N:** Sorry I've been away for awhile, life got in the way, several friends are fighting breast cancer, one of my very best friend's just lost her husband from throat cancer and I've not been in a writing mood, I'm sorry that so many of you were left hanging during this time but I'm back, and I have some semblence of order back so I'm back to writing once again...Thanks for all of you who have stuck it out...I hope as the next chapters progress I keep up the suspense and excitement.

They got back into the room just as Jake returned from a guarded bathroom break. Gil and Catherine sat down across from him and Brass paced the room.

"So you were saying before your break...?" he stood, arms crossed then started to pace again giving Jake the impression that he had better things to do than stand around much longer.

"Cavello is answering to someone in the department, someone has something on him but I don't know..."

"You don't know or you're not saying?" Brass slammed his meaty hands down on the marble table top causing Jake to flinch.

"I'm ... I...I'm not sure..." Jake started to stutter as his eyes widened and scanned the three others in the room.

"Your not sure? Sure of what Jake? If you aren't telling or you can't? Come on Jake it's all or nothing, times a wasting.." he checked his Skagen watch as if he had somewhere more important to be.

"I'm ...I ...I don't know who it is but they got him spooked, I heard him once and ... and he was stuttering worse tttthhhen me...all I know is there is someone in that department that's capable of pulling Cavello's strings and they're yanking them lately..." he sat back and wiped at his brow.

"So we're pretty much back to square one!" Catherine sat back and crossed her arms rocking in the padded leather chair her father had often times sat in.

"How do you figure Cath?" Brass sat down next to Jake and made sure to press into his personal space.

"Well we already know Cavello's linked to this but we have a mole in the department and we still don't know who it is or who we can trust..." She shot Gil a worried look.

"We're going to have to play this out...I can't keep hiding here and not doing my job, we know for a fact that Ecklie is not involved...so we're going to have to bring him into this." Gil added patiently waiting for Brass or Catherine to share their own opinion.

"You aren't really thinking of going back to work?" Catherine looked extremely worried about her best friend.

"I'm not going to hide Catherine, we're pretty much all under the gun right now..." Catherine held up her hand.

"They haven't gone after any of us Gil but they didn't hesitate to try and get you and Sara, you've got her and the babies to consider..."

"And you've got Lindsey and Warrick ... Nick has himself and Mandy...everyone of us has someone we care about but the job has risks..." Brass cleared his throat.

"Catherine's right though Gil, they didn't hesitate to go after you and your wife in the open, so far we've not been targeted and I happen to agree with Catherine that you're better off here..." he saw the look on Gil's face and knew his friend wasn't going to sit around and let his friends and co-workers play target in his place.

"Brass, I hear what you're saying, Cath honestly I do, I know you're just trying to protect me but I can't...in good conscience sit back and let these bastards control my life, they've done too much already and ... until I know my wife and children are 100 safe, I won't rest..." he stood up then turned to Jake, "I'd like to know how you know so much about the Eigers, Cavello and whoever else is behind this, it just seems very strange to me that someone like you..." he walked around the room and paused "I just don't see Eiger letting a two bit mafia wanna be sitting down at their dinner table like you were a member of their family." Something about what Jake had told him didn't sit right but he couldn't quite pin point it...

"Excuse me, I'm no two bit mafia wanna be!" Jake's face reddened and he pushed back the chair. "yeah, I got involved with the wrong people, I already told you that, I told you I tried to help my kid and got in over my head...Eiger did a lot of bragging in front of all of us..." his eyes widened when he realized he just made a huge mistake.

"Us? All of us?" Brass turned on him like a cat that had just cornered his prey. "Just how many of 'us' he quoted with his fingers "are there?" He stood up and motioned for Gil and Catherine to leave, it was going to get ugly and he wanted them both far from the fallout.

Jake swallowed hard as he realized he'd failed to play his last card close to the vest. Brass shut the door, slammed the two vacant chairs into the desk then sat heavily in the one he'd recently vacated himself.

"Now, I know damned well there's more spill it Jake or so help me God, the next time you see your family, you'll be able to sweep them up on a dustpan cause I'll but their asses right back in plain site and I'll be damned if anyone is going to want to save your sorry ass!"

Jake was sweating and his eyes were everywhere. "I...I tttold yoooooyou everytttthiing..." Brass pulled out his cellphone and proceeded to dial a number.

"You can call off the guards on Jake's family...he's on his own!" he stood up after disconnecting the call headed for the door. "I'll get you that dustpan now..." his hand was on the door knob when he heard Jake stand up...

"Wait...wait..you can't do that...they're innocent ... you're letting them out there to be killed..." his voice wavered between breaths and tears. "You're gonna live with their blood on ..." Brass spun on him and put a finger up.

"No Jake, you signed their death warrants not me...don't put this on me" he poked at Jake's gut "You wanna play with me you'd better realize just who the fuck you're playing with...your family don't mean shit to me Jake, you don't mean shit to me...but these people here...they mean the world to me and if it takes having someone wipe out your whole fucking family to have you tell me just what the hell else you know...then I'm willing to put my head on a pillow and sleep through any nightmares...you got it?" and with that Brass left the trembling man behind in the empty room.

Jake crumbled, unaware that Gil and Catherine were watching him from the adjoining room. Sam had been smart to install a one way mirror into his meeting rooms, it had come in handy as they watched the portly man sit at the desk bawling like a newborn calf.

"You think he really knows who else is involved?" Gil questioned Brass as he joined them in the other room.

"I think so...he wouldn't have slipped with the 'all of us' if he were alone in this...I'm gonna let him stew for awhile, he thinks I called off the dogs on his family...maybe that and a little bit of alone time will get him thinking..." They watched for a bit longer as Jake got up, paced the room, ran his ham hocked hands through his greasy hair and then sat back down only to get up and repeat the process over and over again all the while mumbling to himself. Brass noticed him bending down and pulling off his shoe...looking guiltily around him, he slid something out of the heel and it took a moment for Brass to realize that somehow, Jake had managed to hold onto a very small cellphone...

"I'll be a son of a bitch!" he was about to storm out and into the interrogation room when Gil stopped him...

"Let's just see who he calls..." he leaned against the table in their room and watched as Jake carefully dialed a number. Catherine pressed a button on the wall and they were easily able to listen in.


End file.
